How to Get Rid of Spittle Bugs

If you see little blobs of foam or a mass of bubbles on your plants, there can be only one culprit--spittle bug nymphs. These immature insects feed on many types of herbaceous plants. Contrary to popular opinion, the foam isn't really spit. The bugs make the foamy mixture by combining air with their bodily excretions of fluids, not from their mouths. The froth hides the spittle bug from predators and keeps it from dehydrating from exposure to the elements.

You don't have to put up with these little marauders, though, and you don't have to resort to chemical pestticides, such as Sevin, unless you want to. Perhaps best is an organic spittle bug killer that also discourages future invasions. Both garlic- and pepper-based homemade spittle bug insecticides work very well. You can make this highly effective organic pepper-and-garlic spray very easily and quite inexpensively.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber or disposable gloves
• Plastic spray bottle
• Blender
• Glass jar with tight-fitting lid
• Funnel
• Coffee filter or cheesecloth
• Plastic pump spray bottle
• 2 cups water
• 8 habanero peppers
• 6 cloves peeled garlic
• 2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup Ivory dish detergent

Instructions

1. Protect your hands with rubber or disposable gloves. Habanero peppers are among the most potent in the world, and they can produce burning sensations on your skin. Puree the peppers with the peeled garlic cloves in the blender. Add in the cayenne pepper and liquefy the mixture.

2. Pour in 2 cups of water, and blend the garlic-and-pepper solution very well. Slowly add the dish detergent and mix it on your blender's lowest setting so that it doesn't suds up.

3. Strain the pepper and garlic spray through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Repeat, but this time strain it into a glass jar. Cap it tightly, place it in a cool, dark location and let it sit for 24 hours prior to use.

4. Funnel some of the pepper-and-garlic spittle bug spray into the plastic pump spray bottle.

5. Spray each of your plants with the spittle bug spray. Squirt some on the ground around the plant, too. Then spread a band of the spray around the outer boundaries of your garden, creating a spittle bug barrier. It will repel other garden pests, as well.

6. Spray your plants and their areas once a week thereafter. Be sure to spray again following a heavy rainfall.

Tips & Warnings

• It's very important that you use the Ivory dish detergent liquid. It contains surfactants, which enable the solution they are mixed in to become stickier, and it will make your pesticide adhere to the plant better.

• You can wash away a spittle bug nymph's foam from your plants with a strong squirt from the water hose. It will be exposed to predators and drying out. But it won't kill the insect, which will climb back onto a desirable plant and commence to eating and frothing again.

References

• Spittlebugs Are ...

Resources

• Quick Reference on Spittlebugs