Do you know how to get rid of spittlebugs? In a situation where you find a spit-like foaming bubble on your plants, this is one strong indicator that your yard has spittlebugs.
Spittlebugs are pests named for the shelters they create when feeding on plant sap, the damage and the cause aren’t very harmful to plants but their shelters are a nuisance you have to get rid of.
Nevertheless, having to remove the spill shelters from your plants and grass can be annoying to deal with. So, in this article, we will show you how to identify and how to get rid of spittlebugs.
Before proceeding, do you know what a spittlebug is? Let’s briefly look into it.
What is a Spittle Bug?
Plant-eating insects known as spittlebugs are known for producing a frothy-like fluid that appears to be like spittle. Spittlebugs come in over 2500 different varieties, according to research.
Spittlebugs are masters of camouflage, frequently dousing themselves in a foamy substance to blend in with their surroundings.
In order to keep their bodies moist and tolerate a variety of temperature variations, they exude this fluid from their back and cover themselves with it. Spittlebugs are so good at hiding that most people only see their excrement and never see the actual bugs.
Plants aren’t particularly harmed by the damage they do, but removing their nests is a pain. Turfgrasses can also be infested by them, resulting in browning and discoloration.
They aren’t particularly dangerous, but spittlebugs are known to carry bacteria that can cause leaf scorch and limit crop output.
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How to Identify a Spittlebug
The first thing you need to do in any pest control plan is to identify what you’re dealing with. Carelessness with identification will lead to wrong treatment which will cost money and time to fix.
The easiest way to know you’re dealing with spittlebugs is to look for the shelter. Spittlebug shelters are white bubbly masses that are usually three-quarters of an inch in size.
They’re producing its excrements. The spittlebugs themselves are small growing up to 1/4 of an inch in length. They have soft elongated bodies that are tan pale, yellow, or green in color.
And they have large eyes on the sides of their heads. Spittlebugs are actually been the nymphal phase of the frog hopper a bug named because they resemble frogs and they hop.
Well, adult frog hoppers typically grow to about 1/3 of an inch in length. Their bodies are arched upward similar to how a frog holds its posture.
And they have enlarged hind legs for jumping, frog hoppers can often be confused with other insects, like leaf hoppers and treehoppers.
Though, similar to these are very different pests with different behaviors that will impact your approach to treating the spittlebugs.
The difference here is that leafhoppers have spines lining one or more pairs of their legs while frog hoppers lack these spines.
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Picture of a Spittlebug
Where Do I Find Spittlebugs?
In a situation where you’re facing spittlebugs infestation, they are possible places you can find this bug.
- Section your lawn and garden to see where the most spittlebug activity is a few.
- Check if spittlebugs in your yard are normal but in any large concentrations of pest activity, look for the spittlebug shelters, as well as the bugs themselves.
- Check for the nymphs and the adult frog hoppers.
- If you’re noticing patches of discolored grass, look for the bugs and their shelters on the basis of grass blades. After identifying, your pests and inspecting for activity on your property apply the treatment.
How to Get Rid of Spittle Bugs
There are 2 ways on how to get rid of spittlebugs, you can get rid of spittlebugs naturally or use insecticides and sprays. We are going to discuss these 2 ways, whichever is easier you can utilize.
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How to Get Rid of Spittlebugs Naturally
Below are effective steps on how to get rid of spittlebugs naturally:
1. Weed your Garden
Your vegetable garden or orchard may suffer from a big infestation of spittlebugs that can harm your plants and diminish production if you don’t take the time to thoroughly remove the weeds in your yard.
2. Prevent Weeds or Grasses from Growing
More spittlebugs will invade your garden if you allow weeds or grasses to take over, as there will be more plants for them to feed on. Another good idea is to leave a three-foot-wide strip of land surrounding your garden free of vegetation.
3. Pluck them off by Hand
If you have a mild infestation of spittlebugs, you can simply pluck them off of your plants by hand. If you’re apprehensive, wear gloves. The nymphs and adults should be found and removed from your plants. Squeezing them to death or putting them in a jar of soapy water can do the trick.
4. Water your Plants
Directing a forceful spray of water at the stems of the plants will remove the spittle infestations. Keep in mind that some of them will return, so you may need to spray again for a few days to get rid of them.
5. Use Essential Oils
An effective method of disrupting spittlebug feeding habits is with essential oils derived from plants. If you want to keep spittlebugs under control and prevent further infestation, I suggest utilizing neem oil or another citrus-based oil like lemon or orange oil.
6. Use their Predatory
Most insects and pests are prey for praying mantises. To see if they work, you may buy a few and release them on your pest-infested plants for a week and see how they do.
7. Try Row Covers
Spittlebugs and other pests can be thwarted with the use of row coverings, which are lightweight fabrics or plastics. Spittlebugs can be exterminated easily and cheaply with the help of these products.
This allows rain and heat to get in and out of the fabric row coverings, unlike plastic row covers, which don’t have these openings.
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How to Get Rid of Spittlebugs Using Insecticides
Once you know what your pests look like, check around your property to confirm their presence or find hot spots of activity, start carefully with:
Note: Before starting any treatment be sure to wear your personal protective equipment and remember to keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.
- First, wash away any spittlebug shelters off shrubs, ornamentals, and turf grass with a stream of water.
- Alternatively. You can also wipe them off with a damp cloth.
- Once the spittlebugs in their shelters have been removed. You can apply a long-lasting residual, insecticide like Supreme IT.
- Supreme IT is bifenthrin is a liquid insecticide concentrate that’s labeled to control spittlebugs and more than 70 other pests. This product will need to be mixed with water before application. So, we recommend you mix and apply it with a handheld pump sprayer.
- Before mixing your products, calculate your treatment areas, and square footage to determine how many products you need to use.
- You can do this by multiplying the area’s length by its way off the application range to treat spittlebug.
- Supreme IT is 0.25 to 0.5 fluid ounces of product per 1,000 square feet of the treatment area.
- Use the higher rate for severe infestations. We recommend you mix one gallon of solution for every 1,000 square feet.
- Once your solution is evenly mixed, spray the tops and bottoms of ornamental leaves to the point of wet, but not run off.
- Then broadcast the solution evenly over your entire lawn.
- Do not apply Supreme IT to plants grown for consumption, allow the product to dry, and do not let people or pets into the treatment area.
Once dry, Supreme IT will leave a residual chemical barrier that will repeal and control pests for up to 90 days. Labeled pests, including spittlebugs that come in contact with the spray or the residual, will have their nervous systems impacted and will eventually die in several hours.
How to Prevent Spittlebugs
Prevention is essential to keeping pests in check even after you have applied pesticides, the best way to stop spittlebug activity is to make sure it can’t return.
You can prevent spittlebug from returning to your property by:
- Clean up leaf litter.
- Regularly rank your lawn, and pick up tree branches to keep your yard neat and free of any egg-laying sites.
- Avoid over-watering your garden and keep your lawn properly drained since stagnant water can attract all kinds of pests to your yard.
- If you can watch the way spittlebug shelters without over-watering your lawn.
- Keep up with regular pesticide re-applications to protect your yard year-round with Supreme it.
- You’ll also want to make re-treatments of the natural steps to get rid of spittlebugs every three months for complete control.
Conclusion
Knowing how to get rid of spittlebugs yourself will save the cost of hiring a pest control service. This bug feeds on plants and grass, they create foam-like shelters that can be a nuisance.
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