Machaerota notoceras
[Tube Spittlebug]
Classification: | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hemiptera | Family: Machaerotidae | Genus: Machaerota |
This Tube Spittlebug looks quite similar to a Treehopper (Family: Membracidae). Not surprisingly, I have treated it as a Treehopper in the past. Unlike most Spittlebug, its nymph is not surrounded by saliva-like foam but instead, it lives in a tube that attached to the host plant.
In April 2019, I finally got to see the actual nymph tubes which I had read previously on the host plant, Talipariti tiliaceum (Sea Hibiscus). If you happened to notice the little orange guy beside the Tube Spittlebug in 2 of the pictures below, it was a jumping plant louse (Mesohomotoma species).