Cercopidae 315 



the 1 st stage and the nymphs usually succumbed on the date when molt- 

 ing might be expected to occur. 



M. E. D. 



Order homoptera, Family cercopidae 



REARING CERCOPIDAE 



Kathleen C. Doerlng, University of Kansas 



SPITTLE insects, like all sucking insects which are plant feeders, are 

 difficult to rear. It is very necessary that they have healthy, suc- 

 culent plant tissue upon which to feed in order to get sufficient nourish- 

 ment for their proper development. In addition, spittle bugs need vast 

 quantities of plant juice in order to form their spittle masses. Normally, 

 in the field, spittle nymphs perhaps do not move around to any great 

 extent. In the laboratory, however, they are apt to be exceedingly rest- 

 less, especially the tiny first instars. The restlessness of the nymphs is 

 usually caused by disturbance of them in their spittle mass, or by lack 

 of juice in the plant. 



In bringing spittle insects into the laboratory great care must be taken 

 not to lose them enroute. The most satisfactory method for the author 

 was to cut the entire plant stalk without disturbing the insects in the 

 spittle mass and then to wrap the stem tightly in a newspaper. At the 

 laboratory they should be transferred to growing young plants by means 

 of a camel's hair paint brush. They ramble aimlessly over the plant 

 for some time but eventually settle down when they find a favorable 

 feeding spot. They should be watched carefully during this wandering 

 period for very frequently they fall off the plant onto the dirt beneath 

 where they sometimes are not able to regain their feet. Spittle bugs dry 

 up quickly when not living in their spittle mass. When once settled 

 upon the plant, and if the plant is growing, they give little trouble. 



Certain precautions should be noted in regard to the care of the host 

 plants. In the first place if more than one host plant is found for the 

 insect the plant chosen for rearing should be the one that lends itself best 

 to transplanting and for which it is easiest to get small, seedling, or tender 

 plants. For Lepyronia quadrangularis which has some sixty-two host 

 plants, small plants of the common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisijolia, 

 proved most satisfactory. Secondly it was found that cuttings of plants 

 placed in water are unsatisfactory apparently because there is not enough 

 plant juice present to supply the amount of fluid needed to make the 

 spittle masses. Small, tender plants should be planted in flower pots. 

 The nymphs are then confined on the plants under lamp chimneys. Over 



