You never know what you’re going to find inside a gob of spit in a meadow. If you’re lucky, it might be a young spittlebug. As Bowdoin professor and Maine Audubon trustee Nat Wheelwright explains, the “spit,” which is left over from feeding on plant sap, protects these harmless insects from predators and parasitic wasps.
Nature Moments are produced by Nat Wheelwright and Wilder Nicholson, with help from Genie Wheelwright, Paul Benham, Tom Porter, and Rebecca Goldfine.
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