scishow
Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants
YouTube: | https://youtube.com/watch?v=mtjMnYuz490 |
Previous: | 6 Species Unlike Anything Else | Evolutionary Loners |
Next: | This Melon Builds a Whole Ecosystem in the Desert |
Categories
Statistics
View count: | 177,619 |
Likes: | 8,324 |
Comments: | 351 |
Duration: | 06:03 |
Uploaded: | 2020-08-10 |
Last sync: | 2024-11-30 04:00 |
Citation
Citation formatting is not guaranteed to be accurate. | |
MLA Full: | "Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants." YouTube, uploaded by SciShow, 10 August 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtjMnYuz490. |
MLA Inline: | (SciShow, 2020) |
APA Full: | SciShow. (2020, August 10). Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=mtjMnYuz490 |
APA Inline: | (SciShow, 2020) |
Chicago Full: |
SciShow, "Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants.", August 10, 2020, YouTube, 06:03, https://youtube.com/watch?v=mtjMnYuz490. |
Ever wondered what makes those balls of white foam you sometimes find clinging to plants? Spittlebugs create these bubbly cocoons after feeding on a plant’s fluids; but unfortunately, their eating habits help transmit a deadly bacteria capable of wiping out agriculturally important plants.
Hosted by: Hank Green
SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It's called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:
Bd_Tmprd, Jeffrey Mckishen, James Knight, Christoph Schwanke, Jacob, Matt Curls, Sam Buck, Christopher R Boucher, Eric Jensen, Lehel Kovacs, Adam Brainard, Greg, Sam Lutfi, Piya Shedden, Katie Marie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Charles george, Alex Hackman, Chris Peters, Kevin Bealer
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow
----------
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43421301?seq=1
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasota/gardening-and-landscaping/horticulture-commercial/integrated-pest-management/beneficial-insects/
https://bugs.uconn.edu/2017/07/24/spittlebug-a-unique-little-insect/
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/10/324/htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10658-015-0784-7
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.850.2145&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-6359-6_4341
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10658-015-0784-7
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/digital/metcalf/spittlebugs.html
https://www.peanutscience.com/doi/pdf/10.3146/i0095-3679-8-1-6
https://cnx.org/contents/GFy_h8cu@10.61:5aq8b3HZ@5/Transport-of-Water-and-Solutes-in-Plants
https://www.britannica.com/science/xylem
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21684926
https://www.britannica.com/animal/heteropteran/Form-and-function#ref131990
https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/mouthparts.html
https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/2446427
https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/landscape/sapfeed/ent-6004/
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-439
https://jeb.biologists.org/content/222/3/jeb191973
http://www.visitsitaly.com/puglia/lecce/index.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/science/spittlebugs-bubble-home.html
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/spittlebugs-and-froghoppers
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2009.00520.x
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5408
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18422428
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3646994/
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/07/1912206117#ref-2
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco_Porcelli2/publication/283161355_The_olive_quick_decline_syndrome_in_south-east_Italy_a_threatening_phytosanitary_emergency/links/564b632108ae3374e5dd9aa5/The-olive-quick-decline-syndrome-in-south-east-Italy-a-threatening-phytosanitary-emergency.pdf
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/190515-0
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/olive-oil-industry-under-increasing-threat-from-olive-leprosy
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-016-0793-0
https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS.2002.86.10.1056
https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/pm/article/view/5750
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334777234_Sulfoxaflor_and_Natural_Pyrethrin_with_Piperonyl_Butoxide_Are_Effective_Alternatives_to_Neonicotinoids_against_Juveniles_of_Philaenus_spumarius_the_European_Vector_of_Xylella_fastidiosa
Image Sources:
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/fresh-green-grass-gm171321950-21259281
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/close-up-treehopper-or-spittlebug-on-green-leaf-gm466469008-59793420
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/spittlebug-or-cuckoo-spit-on-gorse-bush-gm121004359-13287917
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/red-and-black-froghopper-on-a-rush-stem-gm1071414832-286719499
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/plants-in-pots-gm1125672866-296028132
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/spittlebug-larvae-gm635723008-112362689
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xylella-fastidiosa-1508x706_c.jpg
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/training-model-plant-stem-isolated-on-white-background-gm452790145-30000600
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pierces-disease-on-grapes-gm480766752-68878387
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/olive-trees-attacked-by-xylella-fastidiosa-gm1141240670-305670407
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/meadow-spittlebug-gm1226458439-361375024
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/froghopper-nymph-on-leaf-gm466225687-26015756
Hosted by: Hank Green
SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It's called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:
Bd_Tmprd, Jeffrey Mckishen, James Knight, Christoph Schwanke, Jacob, Matt Curls, Sam Buck, Christopher R Boucher, Eric Jensen, Lehel Kovacs, Adam Brainard, Greg, Sam Lutfi, Piya Shedden, Katie Marie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Charles george, Alex Hackman, Chris Peters, Kevin Bealer
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow
----------
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43421301?seq=1
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/sarasota/gardening-and-landscaping/horticulture-commercial/integrated-pest-management/beneficial-insects/
https://bugs.uconn.edu/2017/07/24/spittlebug-a-unique-little-insect/
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/10/324/htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10658-015-0784-7
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.850.2145&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-6359-6_4341
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10658-015-0784-7
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/digital/metcalf/spittlebugs.html
https://www.peanutscience.com/doi/pdf/10.3146/i0095-3679-8-1-6
https://cnx.org/contents/GFy_h8cu@10.61:5aq8b3HZ@5/Transport-of-Water-and-Solutes-in-Plants
https://www.britannica.com/science/xylem
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21684926
https://www.britannica.com/animal/heteropteran/Form-and-function#ref131990
https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/mouthparts.html
https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/2446427
https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/landscape/sapfeed/ent-6004/
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-439
https://jeb.biologists.org/content/222/3/jeb191973
http://www.visitsitaly.com/puglia/lecce/index.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/science/spittlebugs-bubble-home.html
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/spittlebugs-and-froghoppers
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2009.00520.x
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5408
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18422428
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3646994/
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/07/1912206117#ref-2
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco_Porcelli2/publication/283161355_The_olive_quick_decline_syndrome_in_south-east_Italy_a_threatening_phytosanitary_emergency/links/564b632108ae3374e5dd9aa5/The-olive-quick-decline-syndrome-in-south-east-Italy-a-threatening-phytosanitary-emergency.pdf
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/190515-0
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/olive-oil-industry-under-increasing-threat-from-olive-leprosy
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-016-0793-0
https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS.2002.86.10.1056
https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/pm/article/view/5750
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334777234_Sulfoxaflor_and_Natural_Pyrethrin_with_Piperonyl_Butoxide_Are_Effective_Alternatives_to_Neonicotinoids_against_Juveniles_of_Philaenus_spumarius_the_European_Vector_of_Xylella_fastidiosa
Image Sources:
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/fresh-green-grass-gm171321950-21259281
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/close-up-treehopper-or-spittlebug-on-green-leaf-gm466469008-59793420
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/spittlebug-or-cuckoo-spit-on-gorse-bush-gm121004359-13287917
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/red-and-black-froghopper-on-a-rush-stem-gm1071414832-286719499
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/plants-in-pots-gm1125672866-296028132
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/spittlebug-larvae-gm635723008-112362689
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xylella-fastidiosa-1508x706_c.jpg
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/training-model-plant-stem-isolated-on-white-background-gm452790145-30000600
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pierces-disease-on-grapes-gm480766752-68878387
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/olive-trees-attacked-by-xylella-fastidiosa-gm1141240670-305670407
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/meadow-spittlebug-gm1226458439-361375024
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/froghopper-nymph-on-leaf-gm466225687-26015756
[♪ INTRO].
Over half of all insects eat plants, but most of them don't do any real damage. The spittlebug, on the other hand, falls into the minority.
It seems like an innocuous critter, named for the frothy foam it leaves behind. Yet when farmers see this foam, it might throw them into a panic. Because though the bugs themselves aren't that big a deal, they could be a sign of imminent crop doom.
Cercopoidea is a superfamily of bugs containing more than 3000 individual species that can be found all over the world. They're more commonly known as spittlebugs or froghoppers. These little guys usually come in somewhere between the size of a short grain of rice and an unshelled peanut.
But what makes spittlebugs unique — and deadly — is their diet. Spittlebugs feed exclusively on a substance called xylem sap, which is the liquid that moves dissolved nutrients and minerals from the soil through a plant's root system and into the plant. Xylem sap is a little different from phloem sap, which transports sugars produced by photosynthesis.
Luckily for spittlebugs, lots of plants have xylem sap — like, all vascular plants, ones that use a system of vessels to transport nutrients. That's most plants, outside of mosses and a few others. So spittlebugs have options when deciding where to eat out.
When spittlebugs are in their nymph stage, prior to adulthood, they feed on xylem sap by piercing plants with tube-shaped mandibles designed for sucking up liquid. Now unfortunately for them, xylem sap isn't very efficient food, since it's low in nutrients. That means spittlebugs eat a ton — one spittlebug can consume 280 times their own body mass in xylem sap in a twenty-four hour period.
That would be like you eating 19 tons of food every day! Of course, all that delicious sap has to go somewhere. So spittlebug nymphs excrete the excess… anally.
The spittlebug adds some chemicals and then mixes in air. The result is a foamy substance known as cuckoo spit, which spittlebugs use to envelop themselves in a protective, bubbly cocoon that actually looks like spit, but is more like pee. It doesn't have anything to do with the birds, but it does tend to show up in early spring, just like cuckoos do.
It's not bird spit; it's bug pee. Just so we're clear on that. It's cute, if also disgusting, and doesn't seem like it should be that much of a problem.
But spittlebugs are a huge threat to plants. Not on their own, though their feeding can damage plants' overall health. The real reason spittlebugs are actually dangerous is because they can spread a deadly plant bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa.
That sounds a lot like it is a Hogwarts spell, but it causes a very real and very deadly disease in plants. In fact, it's considered one of the most dangerous bacterial infections in plants, and can infect more than 560 plant species worldwide. These bacteria infect a plant's xylem -- which is exactly where the bug's mouthparts are biting.
When a plant becomes infected with Xyella fastidiosa, the bacteria forms colonies that clog up the xylem's channels and block the flow of water and nutrients within the plant. As a result, the plant can't absorb the nutrients it needs, which is definitely not a good thing. Once a plant is infected, its leaves begin to fall off, its growth slows — and if the infection continues unchecked, the plant will die.
These tiny, cuckoo-spit-producing bugs transmit these deadly bacteria from plant to plant as they feed. When a spittlebug drinks from an infected plant, the bacteria colonize its gut. So when the spittlebug moves to the next plant and chows down, it passes along the bacteria, too.
That's bad for plants, of course, but it's also bad for farmers and food production, which can be hard hit by this spittlebug-borne disease. Xylella fastidiosa is the culprit behind a number of illnesses that affect food-producing plants. Unfortunately, there's no cure for the infection, so when it makes its way into crops like grapes, olives, or citrus, the consequences can be dire.
It was 2008 when the first case of one such disease known as olive quick decline syndrome was discovered in the Italian province of Lecce. By 2015, scientists were estimating that 10,000 hectares of Lecce's olive trees had become infected — basically half. In other words, the bacteria had spread to one million olive trees — some of which were over a hundred years old — in less than a decade.
And this disease has stubbornly resisted attempts at eradication. Luckily, researchers are working on developing ways to protect farmland from Xyllela fastidiosa. Like by determining which of the three thousand species of spittlebug are actually responsible for spreading it.
Researchers reported that the meadow spittlebug was the main culprit in spreading the bacteria in Italian olive groves. The scientists discovered that in August 2014, nearly one hundred percent of meadow spittlebugs they collected in Italy's Salento peninsula tested positive for the bacteria. Researchers are also testing other types of prevention and treatment techniques, including chemical sprays that help slow the spread of the disease.
It seems unfair to blame tiny spittlebugs for such a deadly threat. After all, they're just trying to live their best lives, swathed in cocoons of their foam excrement. So maybe with a little more research, we can tackle the real threat and go back to living peacefully alongside these little guys decorating our plants with cuckoo spit.
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow. If you want to help us make more videos about weird bugs, consider supporting us on Patreon. Patrons get to join our patron-only Discord and chat with other patrons and members of our team — not to mention other perks, like behind the scenes photos and bloopers.
If you're interested, check out patreon.com/scishow. [♪ OUTRO].
Over half of all insects eat plants, but most of them don't do any real damage. The spittlebug, on the other hand, falls into the minority.
It seems like an innocuous critter, named for the frothy foam it leaves behind. Yet when farmers see this foam, it might throw them into a panic. Because though the bugs themselves aren't that big a deal, they could be a sign of imminent crop doom.
Cercopoidea is a superfamily of bugs containing more than 3000 individual species that can be found all over the world. They're more commonly known as spittlebugs or froghoppers. These little guys usually come in somewhere between the size of a short grain of rice and an unshelled peanut.
But what makes spittlebugs unique — and deadly — is their diet. Spittlebugs feed exclusively on a substance called xylem sap, which is the liquid that moves dissolved nutrients and minerals from the soil through a plant's root system and into the plant. Xylem sap is a little different from phloem sap, which transports sugars produced by photosynthesis.
Luckily for spittlebugs, lots of plants have xylem sap — like, all vascular plants, ones that use a system of vessels to transport nutrients. That's most plants, outside of mosses and a few others. So spittlebugs have options when deciding where to eat out.
When spittlebugs are in their nymph stage, prior to adulthood, they feed on xylem sap by piercing plants with tube-shaped mandibles designed for sucking up liquid. Now unfortunately for them, xylem sap isn't very efficient food, since it's low in nutrients. That means spittlebugs eat a ton — one spittlebug can consume 280 times their own body mass in xylem sap in a twenty-four hour period.
That would be like you eating 19 tons of food every day! Of course, all that delicious sap has to go somewhere. So spittlebug nymphs excrete the excess… anally.
The spittlebug adds some chemicals and then mixes in air. The result is a foamy substance known as cuckoo spit, which spittlebugs use to envelop themselves in a protective, bubbly cocoon that actually looks like spit, but is more like pee. It doesn't have anything to do with the birds, but it does tend to show up in early spring, just like cuckoos do.
It's not bird spit; it's bug pee. Just so we're clear on that. It's cute, if also disgusting, and doesn't seem like it should be that much of a problem.
But spittlebugs are a huge threat to plants. Not on their own, though their feeding can damage plants' overall health. The real reason spittlebugs are actually dangerous is because they can spread a deadly plant bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa.
That sounds a lot like it is a Hogwarts spell, but it causes a very real and very deadly disease in plants. In fact, it's considered one of the most dangerous bacterial infections in plants, and can infect more than 560 plant species worldwide. These bacteria infect a plant's xylem -- which is exactly where the bug's mouthparts are biting.
When a plant becomes infected with Xyella fastidiosa, the bacteria forms colonies that clog up the xylem's channels and block the flow of water and nutrients within the plant. As a result, the plant can't absorb the nutrients it needs, which is definitely not a good thing. Once a plant is infected, its leaves begin to fall off, its growth slows — and if the infection continues unchecked, the plant will die.
These tiny, cuckoo-spit-producing bugs transmit these deadly bacteria from plant to plant as they feed. When a spittlebug drinks from an infected plant, the bacteria colonize its gut. So when the spittlebug moves to the next plant and chows down, it passes along the bacteria, too.
That's bad for plants, of course, but it's also bad for farmers and food production, which can be hard hit by this spittlebug-borne disease. Xylella fastidiosa is the culprit behind a number of illnesses that affect food-producing plants. Unfortunately, there's no cure for the infection, so when it makes its way into crops like grapes, olives, or citrus, the consequences can be dire.
It was 2008 when the first case of one such disease known as olive quick decline syndrome was discovered in the Italian province of Lecce. By 2015, scientists were estimating that 10,000 hectares of Lecce's olive trees had become infected — basically half. In other words, the bacteria had spread to one million olive trees — some of which were over a hundred years old — in less than a decade.
And this disease has stubbornly resisted attempts at eradication. Luckily, researchers are working on developing ways to protect farmland from Xyllela fastidiosa. Like by determining which of the three thousand species of spittlebug are actually responsible for spreading it.
Researchers reported that the meadow spittlebug was the main culprit in spreading the bacteria in Italian olive groves. The scientists discovered that in August 2014, nearly one hundred percent of meadow spittlebugs they collected in Italy's Salento peninsula tested positive for the bacteria. Researchers are also testing other types of prevention and treatment techniques, including chemical sprays that help slow the spread of the disease.
It seems unfair to blame tiny spittlebugs for such a deadly threat. After all, they're just trying to live their best lives, swathed in cocoons of their foam excrement. So maybe with a little more research, we can tackle the real threat and go back to living peacefully alongside these little guys decorating our plants with cuckoo spit.
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow. If you want to help us make more videos about weird bugs, consider supporting us on Patreon. Patrons get to join our patron-only Discord and chat with other patrons and members of our team — not to mention other perks, like behind the scenes photos and bloopers.
If you're interested, check out patreon.com/scishow. [♪ OUTRO].