Homopteran (froghopper or spittlebug) in amber:

Spittlebugs, or froghoppers (family: Cercopidae) are small, hopping insects of the order Homoptera. The adults are under 1/2 in. long in most species, triangular in shape and usually gray or dull green to brown. Most feed on plants and shrubs. They leap from plant to plant, seldom flying. Females insert their eggs in plant stems and sometimes cover them with a protective frothy material. In many species the nymphs envelop themselves in a mass of foam (called spittle, frog spit, or cuckoo spit) made by blowing air through a viscid fluid expelled from the anus. The spittle, often conspicuous on grasses, protects the enclosed nymphs from desiccation and probably also predators. Froghoppers are classified in the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Homoptera, family Cercopidae.


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