Phytotoxemia of Coastal Bermudagrass Caused by the Two-Lined Spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Homoptera: Cercopidae)1

Abstract

An adult two-lined spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Say), causes phytotoxemia of Coastal bermudagrass, a cultivar of Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Symptoms appear as White stipple and Ivory to Sea Foam streak of leaves and browning and dying of the entire above ground portion of the plant. Disease, severity is correlated with the degree of infestation and length of feeding time on the host. Some symptoms developed after 1 spittlebug was confined to a stem for only 1 hr. Nymphs, in any of the 4 instars, were incapable of producing visible symptoms. Histological studies revealed that the nymphs and the adults feed in the xylem. The toxin appeared to move both up and down the stem in the xylem and escaped through the border parenchyma into the mesophyll in the leaves where it caused loss of chlorophyll and, later, death of both parenchyma and mesophyll. Confining an adult to the middle portion of a stem resulted in leaf symptoms both above and below the point of confinement. Confining an adult to an area above the fork of a divided stem resulted in leaf symptoms both above and below the point of confinement but not on the alternate arm of the fork.