The spittlebugs of Canada

It is also hoped that the style of presentation, rhe numerous illustrations, and the brevity of description together with the short and simple identification keys will attract the amateur, and encourage more people to take up the fascinating study of entomology. [...] The air in the canal is replenished by the thrusting of the tip of the abdomen outside the droplet. [...] The first of these bubbles may be due to the breathing activity of the nymphs, but by the time the second instar is reached the nymph actively begins to produce bubbles, thus permitting a larger liquid 8 mass to accumulate around its body. [...] This remarkable process of bubble production involves vigorous motions of the abdomen: the air canal is filled with air as the abdomen is thrust outside the fluid mass; the abdomen is then strongly contracted within the fluid, forcing a bubble out of the tip. [...] The full-grown nymph of other species may emerge from the fluid, and cling to an exposed part of the stem or branch, where the drying spittle fluid on its body adheres the shed cuticle to the plant (A, C).