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dogwood spittlebug

(Clastoptera proteus)

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Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Babette Kis

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Dogwood spittlebug is a small, highly variable but easily recognized, jumping insect. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Minnesota, south to North Carolina and eastern Texas, and in southern Canada from Nova Scotia to Manitoba. It is adventive in the west in Washington, Idaho, western Montana, and southern Vancouver Canada. Nymphs feed on the sap of at least five species of dogwood shrubs. They have no exoskeleton and produce a spittle mass in order to remain moist. Adults feed on the foliage of those same dogwoods, and also on blueberries and buckeyes. Females are ⅛″ (3.3 to 4.1 mm) in length. Males are a little smaller, ⅛″ (2.9 to 3.5 mm) in length. The body is yellow and black, short, and almost globe shaped. The face is directed downward and is not visible when viewed from the front and a little above. The antennae are short and bristle-like. The plate over the thorax (pronotum) does not extend back over the abdomen. The plate behind the pronotum (scutellum) is elongated. There is a convex false eyespot on each side of the thorax near the wing base, and another at the rear near each wing tip. The legs are yellow. On the fourth segment (tibia) of the hind leg, the outer edge has two stout, thorn-like spurs, and there is a circlet of black-tipped spines at the tip. The lower half of the face is entirely yellow and contrasts strongly with the entirely black upper half. The head and the front half of the pronotum are marked with contrasting black and yellow bands. Beyond this, the amount of each color is highly variable. The false eyespots may be black or brownish-orange. The forewings are usually mostly black with a patch of yellow near the base and a patch of brownish-orange at the rear. Nymphs resemble adults but they are pale, and they have no wings. They usually have a pale yellowish abdomen and a dark head and thorax. Sometimes they are light brown with dark brown at the base and the tip of the abdomen.

	Size
	Female: ⅛″ (3.3 to 4.1 mm) Male: ⅛″(2.9 to 3.5 mm)

	Similar Species



	Habitat



	Biology
	Season
	May through August

	Behavior


	Life Cycle
	Eggs are laid under bark in the summer and overwinter.

	Nymph Food
	Sap of dogwoods

	Adult Food
	Foliage of dogwoods, blueberries, and buckeyes


	Distribution
			Sources 24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.
	1/4/2023

	Occurrence


	Taxonomy
	Order	Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids, and allies)
	Suborder	Auchenorrhyncha (true hoppers)
	Infraorder	Cicadomorpha (spittlebugs, cicadas, leafhoppers and treehoppers)
	Superfamily	Cercopoidea (spittlebugs and froghoppers)
	Family	Clastopteridae
	Subfamily	Clastopterinae
	Tribe	Clastopterini
	Genus	Clastoptera

	Subordinate Taxa
	Clastoptera proteus anceps Clastoptera proteus candens Clastoptera proteus flava Clastoptera proteus hyperici Clastoptera proteus nigra Clastoptera proteus nigricollis Clastoptera proteus osceola Clastoptera proteus proteus Clastoptera proteus seminuda Clastoptera proteus vittata

	Synonyms


	Common Names
	dogwood spittlebug

Glossary

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.


	Visitor Photos

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	Alfredo Colon








	Babette Kis

	Clastoptera proteus dogwood spittlebug
	Dogwood spittlebug on gray dogwood leaf Barnes Prairie Racine Co., WI July 31, 2020

	Dogwood spittlebug on Queen of the prairie, Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI July 2, 2022



	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Camera


	Slideshows

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Dogwood Spittlebug Nymphs SpringfieldMN

	About May 27, 2019 Dogwood Spittlebug, Clastoptera proteus, wiped clean and trying to rebuild its bubble cover.

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this insect.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Alfredo Colon 8/8/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 8/7/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 8/4/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Babette Kis 7/31/2022	Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI Dogwood spittlebug on gray dogwood leaf Barnes Prairie Racine Co., WI July 31, 2020



Babette Kis 7/2/2022	Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI Dogwood spittlebug on Queen of the prairie, Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI July 2, 2022



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings