Hi, Sorry for coming in late. Was at Phansad WLS over the weekend with Pravin Kawale. These are not Cicadas but Spittle Bugs / Froghoppers. The 'spittle' or 'cuckoo spit' is a frothy mass in which the froghopper larvae live cocooned from predators and the elements [including the dessicating effect of the sun] while feeding on plant juices. With regards, Neil Soares.
--- On Sat, 4/28/12, surajit koley <[email protected]> wrote: From: surajit koley <[email protected]> Subject: [efloraofindia:114975] Cicada on Erythrina : Thanks to Pankaj Oudhia from Hooghly To: "efloraofindia" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10:34 PM Sir, I shot these pictures in July, 2009, and frogot completely about it. Many many thanks to Pankaj Sir for his comment in another eflora post - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/indiantreepix/e4PLq3ElbI0 which gave me the ID of these water spewing insect - Cicada. I take this opportunity to upload some more images in this post. I think the host tree is Indian Coral Tree. I don't have any flower pic of this tree. "Cuttings" of this tree is used here, sometimes, to build natural fence around ones property/land. Every year those cuttings are pruned when they attain a height of about 10 feet or more. That's why i have never seen any flower on them. I was drawn to these trees because i noticed the peculiar water shedding phenomenon that have been discussed in the Ganesh Ji's post - https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/indiantreepix/e4PLq3ElbI0. Species : 1) Erythrina sp. 2) Cicada insect 3) Polistes olivaceus wasp Habit & Habitat : cuttings from tree, roadside fencing Date : 09-07-2009 & 12-07-2009 Place : Nalikul (Hooghly), WB Thank you & Regards, Surajit Koley
