Ptyelus grossus
Introduction '''''Ptyelus grossus''''' is an Auchenorrhynchan spittlebug in the family Aphrophoridae. Occurring from Southern Africa through to West Africa, the species is gregarious in its larval and nymph stages, feeding on a variety of plants, and producing protective shelters of acrid foam from their host plant's sap. Excreted in large quantities, the foam drips incessantly causing wet patches on the soil below.Adults have slate-grey wings, each wing with two white and yellow patches near the outer margin. The head is white, rounded with large dark eyes and small black and yellow marks on the forehead.Favoured trees are ''Tipuana'', ''Peltophorum'' and ''Lonchocarpus'', although its catholic diet includes species of ''Grevillea'', ''Rhus'', ''Acacia'', ''Vangueria'' and even ''Eucalyptus''.Nymphs are preyed upon by the gorytine wasp ''Pseudoplisus natalensis'', the drosophilid fly ''Leucophenga maculata'' and other carnivorous insects.
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