Jump to it

Perfectly formed , sitting on the edge waiting to jump, camouflaged froghoppers sat on top of fences and posts in the sunshine today. It’s easy to see why it’s called a froghopper from its profile. They are amazing jumpers springing out of sight in a blink of an eye.

The photo below of another froghopper gives a good idea of scale, they are small and perfectly formed.

This froghopper is the spittle bug named (Neophilaneus lineatus)The eggs of froghoppers are laid in the foam we call cuckoo spit attached to plants in the spring and the first of three nymph stages hatches from here.

Froghoppers are bugs and belong to the order Hemiptera ( two pairs of wings and sucking mouthparts) the froghoppers are part of the sub order Auchenorrhyncha (forewings uniform and not overlapping with short terminal bristled antennae)

For fun here is the entire classification of this little jumper !

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (Free-living Hemipterans)

Superfamily Cercopoidea (Spittlebugs)

Family Aphrophoridae (Spittlebugs)

Genus Neophilaenus

Species lineatus (Lined Spittlebug)

I love a little bit of classification!

Another interesting find on this October stroll was on top of the posts extremely well camouflaged , it was this fantastic shield bug.

This is the bronze shield bug (Troilus luridus).It is a predatory shield bug whose nymphs feed on plants and other insects particularly caterpillars. There is one generation per year.