Cedar Creek
Ecosystem Science Reserve

Insects of Cedar Creek

Order HOMOPTERA

Family CERCOPIDAE

(Spittle Bugs)

(Table of Species)

The presence of Spittlebugs (54 NA spp) is most apparent by the spittle masses produced by the nymphs on their host plants. Philaenus spumarius is an abundant polymorphic species found in fields, marshes, and swamps on a variety of forbs.  Philaenarcys  bilineata is a very common spittlebug of prairie fields containing little bluestem--and I suspect this is the host. Paraphilaenus parallelus is an uncommon species found on sedges in boggy situations. The last two mentioned species were formerly in the genus Philaenus (Hamilton, 1979).
Two species of Lepyronia have been collected at CCESR. L. gibbosa is commonly associated with P. bilineata in prairie habitat where it feeds on woody plants (eg. Rosa, Rubus, Populus, Ceanothus, Corylus). L. quadrangularis is a common marsh inhabiting species.
The genus Clastoptera is represented by three species: C. saintcyri (leatherleaf) in bogs, C. proteus (dogwood) and C. obtusa (alder) in woodland and swamps.
The genus Aphrophora is represented by three species: A. cribrata (formerly parallela) feeds on white pine both as nymph and adult. A. saratogensis adults are found on white and red pine, but nymphs feed on herbaceous understory plants.  A. parallela is a new addition to Cedar Creek.  It is a small dark species collected by Vinton Thompson in the sphagnum mat area bordering Beckman Lake during his visit here in early July 2000.  According to Hamilton, the name parallela was originally applied to this species.

I thank Dr. Vinton Thompson (Roosevelt Univ., Chicago) for providing me with life history information, literature, and specimens of this family.

Hamilton,     (19xx).  The Cercopidae of Canada and Alaska???
Hanna, M. (1970). An annotated list of the spittlebugs of michigan (Homoptera: Cercopidae).  Michigan Entomologist 3:2-16
Hanna, M and TE Moore (1966).  The spittlebugs of Michigan (Homoptera: Cercopidae).  Papers of Mich Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 51:39-73.

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