THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
1 66 
Where the nymph or young lives a 
month, the adult lives two months or 
more. Thus we progress to the egg, 
the most completely protected of all, 
in which the insect spends nearly two- 
the following April or May, when it 
hatches and the cycle goes merrily on. 
That an egg laid in July should not 
hatch until the following May is in it- 
self of interest, since there are few simi- 
A. SPITTLE BALLS ON GRASS. ABOUT NATURAL SIZE. PHOTO BY WALDEN. 
lar examples in the insect world. But 
this is just another one of the protec- 
tive measures which enable the spittle 
bug to continue its odd family history. 
Such is the life of our common grass 
feeding spittle bug ( Philaenus lineatus 
Linn). The accompanying illustrations, 
from Bulletin 230 of the Connecticut 
Agricultural Experiment Station, show 
the spittle masses, adult bug and eggs 
of the insect. 
thirds of its natural existence. Laid in 
the sheath of the grass leaf durin g July, 
August or September, it remains until 
B. ADULT BUG. SIX TIMES NATURAL SIZE. 
C. EGGS ON GRASS. EIGHT TIMES NATURAL SIZE. PHOTO BY WALDEN. 
