Froghopper Facts
Froghopper Facts
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| Interesting Froghopper Facts: |
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| Froghopper is miniature bug that can reach around 0.25 inches in length. |
| Color of the body depends on the species. Most froghoppers are black, white or brown colored. Some species have bright-colored stripes and bands on the wings. |
| Froghopper has two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. First pair of wings covers the body like a tent. Wings of some froghoppers form false head at the end of the body. "Two headed-body" is designed to confuse the predators. |
| Mouth apparatus of froghopper is designed for stabbing and extraction of the sap from the plant tissue. |
| Froghopper is herbivore (plant-eater). It eats sap of various species of plants. |
| Name "froghopper" refers to the frog-shaped head of this insect and its ability to jump. |
| Froghopper can jump 27 inches into the air. Even though it is heavier than flea, it can jump higher thanks to strong, well-developed muscles of the hind legs. |
| Hind legs of froghopper generate G-force of 400 gravities, when it prepares to jump. This force is 80 times greater than G-force generated during the launching of the rockets into the space. |
| Froghoppers are also known as "spittlebugs" due to ability to produce frothy substance called "spittle" during the nymph stage. Nymphs eat great amount of sap and cover their body with excess fluid mixed with secretion from the abdominal glands. Foamy spittle creates cocoon-like shell around the body which provides protection against predators and parasites, drying of the body and extreme cold and warm weather. |
| Some African species of froghoppers gathered on the plants in masses. They produce large quantities of spittle that drips from the branches of the plants like a rain. |
| Nymphs of certain types of froghoppers produce calcareous tubes instead of spittle. |
| Natural enemies of froghoppers are birds, frogs and spiders. |
| Recently discovered fossil of two copulating froghoppers revealed that froghoppers still mate like they did 165 million years ago: belly-to-belly oriented. Froghoppers are also able to copulate side-to-side when they are located on the vertical surfaces. |
| Life cycle of froghopper consists of three developmental stages: egg, nymph and adult insect. Nymph is often green colored and it looks like miniature, wingless version of adult. It molts several times until it reaches the size of an adult insect. |
| Adult froghoppers and nymphs can be seen in the wild from June to September. Adult insects live around 23 days. |
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