Small, hopping, torpedo-shaped insects as adults, spittlebugs are similar in appearance to leafhoppers, but are larger and stockier. Young spittlebugs are covered with froth, unlike leafhoppers.
Spittlebugs feed on the leaves of many ornamental and vegetable garden host plants.
Some even occur on conifers. These small bugs introduce a toxin into a plant's vascular system, causing the leaves to appear distorted, yellow and-or stunted. They also like to feed on many types of grasses, and weeds and have also been implicated in transmitting a virus to strawberries. The spittlebug overwinters in the egg stage, attached to leaf stems and leaves. Nymphs hatch out of these eggs in March and April.