Noydb wrote:

Julie wrote:

Noydb wrote:

I have some bug in my garden that is making some sort of foam on my
strawberry plants and a few others. It is still liquid and doesn't appear
to be hardening or changing colors and so on. Just clear bubbles.

Can anyone identify it?

The aptly named spittle bug. See he
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/greenli...gl9903.17.html

They'll be gone in a few weeks.
--
Julie
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=3008861

Thanks Julie. I had continued googling and found that. Since I don't have
the density needed for control to be advisable (1 bug per stem) and since
this is on food crops (control is burning in hayfields or systemic
pesticides in non-food / non-fodder grasses) and since I use organic
methods exclusively, I think I'll just ignore them.

I needed to know what they were, though, so I could figure out what (if
anything) to do about them. I'll burn the strawberry beds this fall with a
light straw fire so the spittle bug population should be kept within
reasonable bounds. I didn't see any natural enemies in my google search.

I've found that they actually do little damage - except to my
lavender, where they can decimate the blooms. I try to stay
organic, so my defense is a strong spray from the hose. Something
else that works for me - fish around in the spittle, find a bug
and crush it between your fingers, then wipe your fingers off on
the leaves. Besides the "gotcha" boost, I've found that the plant
that I've "wiped" will be left alone from then on. Works a bit
for aphids, too, but the "ick" factor is greater for me with
aphids. Totally non-scientific, and I'm sure that as soon as
somebody tells me this can't work, it will stop working.
--
Julie
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=3008861