Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

To put into perspective why the bacterium is so damaging to olive farms specifically: it can take up to 5 years for a tree to begin producing fruit, and from then on their growth is extremely slow. Now imagine losing half your crop.

[@VoxNdoc]

Yea That'd be terrible, hopefully one day we'll be able to stop the bugs or provide it with a different food source.

[@scalpingsnake]

Yeah I watched a video recently on how slowly Olive trees take to mature so when I heard about what happened I realised how devastating that would be.

[@jaschabull2365]

*eyes my frequently-used jar of olive oil, sweats, loosens collar*

[@Nerobyrne]

thankfully they live really long, theoretically the tree under which Jesus (supposedly) said his final prayer could still be alive. Unless it got a clotting disorder along the way, of course.

[@General12th]

Reminds me of losing a yield of devilstrand in Rimworld.

[@midnight8341]

In 2019, one iGEM team tried to fix this problem for olive farmers by designing a bacteriophage that would firstly infect the Xylella cells to make them produce more phages (like they naturally do) but then, before they died, force them to produce signalling molecules that would radically ramp up the plants innate immune response to make them more hardier and help the phage fight the bacterium. Also, the phage was designed with proteins on its capsid that would stick it to chitin, so that they would be transferred from plant to plant by the mouth parts of the bugs to basically spread the viral vaccine everywhere the bugs go. But I don't know if they ever got the permission to actually test their little viral bioweapon in the open.

[@lamdelmundo8492]

That'll be great. I hope their research has gone further enough now to get clearance for deployment. I guess we'll just wait and see. They've done multiple trials in enclosed environments, right? Attacking the bacteria directly is a better option than, say, launching an all-out war against that particular bug specie. The bacteria may just find a new host and waste our efforts.

[@justinyang21114798]

It's Wageningen 2019! Here's their wiki: 2019.igem.org/Team:Wageningen_UR

[@matthewodonnell6906]

I used to think that aphids were the mosquito of plants, but these spittlebugs are even closer to the analogy.

[@MazeMaker4Life]

100%

[@ClaireDAlchemist]

Don’t aphids also transmit diseases to plants? I see aphids and mosquito’s and spittlebugs as botflies*

[@matthewodonnell6906]

The NickBlaster Perhaps they’re more like ticks. I got Lyme Disease from a tick once (very glad about amoxicillin getting rid of it for me early). So, I really should have thought of that first.

[@jaschabull2365]

Those dang homopterans. Guess plants have a reason to be homophobic.

[@Slekejkwls-1819]

Aphids are more like the ticks of plants Edit: Even though the are not arachnids

[@johnopalko5223]

"It's not bird spit; it's bug pee." Because, yeah, that's better...

[@azugot432]

I really pictured him saying that other stuff

[@bugjams]

Look on the bright side, bug “pee” hardly contains any urine, and is mostly sugar and water. Whereas bird spit has been in a bird’s mouth 🤮🤮

[@selalewow]

I love how easily "xylella fastidiosa" rolls off his tongue.

[@jellesdejong]

It's actually "fastidios-Ah"

[@christelheadington1136]

@@jellesdejong I was going to add, "Until someone tells him he's pronouncing it wrong." ,and here you are.

[@Sikosm]

@@jellesdejong love the HP reference 😂

[@casparnuha4210]

pronunciation unclear now I'm peeing at an extremely high speed. send help

[@kleinekat90]

It's fastidi-OH-sah, not fastidios-AH

[@LaughingGenius]

I appreciate sci-show not jumping on the 'villify the bugs' train, even when the bugs are actually causing (accidentally) a problem. Keep doing the good work y'all.

[@Devilot109]

_Xylella fastidiosa_ confuses me. Most pathogens do *not* want to kill their host, as they no longer have a place to feed or live. Highly lethal illnesses are often a sign of something crossing the species barrier, but... that doesn't seem plausible here, as it affects basically ALL THE PLANTS. Does it just count on rapid spread to keep ahead of host die-off?

[@rsmeaton]

I'm assuming that it typically lives elsewhere and the fact that it infects plants is an unhappy accident.

[@griffinclements3908]

I feel it's goal is to infect the bugs rather then the plant itself, so just uses the plant to grow rapidly and spread.

[@kirtil5177]

because it is spread so much to so many plants, the bacteria that replicate ASAP, infects the whole plant and gets picked up by a spittlebug will spread *much* better then the same bacteria that replicates slowly and allows the plant to live yeah it just counts on rapid spread to keep ahead of host die-off

[@samsoncooper1]

No it really isn't. Remember evolution is trial and error. It takes a while to kill an olive tree, the bacteria doesn't care too much about keeping itself alive but replicating as many as possible, as quickly as possible, becoming spread and therefore numerous quickly. This then gives rise to problems such as killing the host. It is hard to tell if infections will get less severe to allow a smaller culture of bacteria to survive longer but as they have already invested so much energy into spreading quickly it might take a long time before they accidentally learn that keeping the host alive increases longevity.

[@Devilot109]

Samson Cooper Fair! I had incorrectly assumed a more advanced age for the species with the current disaster being due to some other factor. For a fairly new species of bacterium, that makes sense.

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

Yeah, the area I'm in treats all spittle bugs like invasive pests. There've even been a few years where the local municipality has gone on extermination waves. It's crazy to see every plant in your vicinity covered in gross little bubbles.

[@Tara-id3rk]

We had them cover our property this year for the first time. I didn’t even know what they were at first. How do you eradicate them?

[@terrapinflyer273]

Just spotted some in my mom's back yard. She had just seen a segment about it (not the bugs in particular) but claiming it was something extremely harmful to plants, animals, and humans. I also have had tons of leafhoppers at my house, not far from her, for several years. Not sure if they're related. I sure hope they aren't the bacteria spreaders.

[@OreaTivona]

I had some spittlebugs and accidentally found an organic remedy. I purchased beneficial nematodes for my garden to combat other bugs. I got the sc variety (Steinernema carpocapsae). The nematodes generally fight only soil based bugs but to apply them you need to use a hose sprayer. I sprayed right over them. In 2 days my green little spittlebugs had turned a mottled yellowish orange. Not a one left after a week. Not sure if it would work with other varieties but it killed the ones I had.

[@karendunaway3390]

Yay! I have been using Neem oil all Spring. Hopefully, this keeps them at bay. They have gotten into my lettuce and cauliflower, grrr now they get dosed with Neem Max as well.

[@clintmcbride7830]

19 tons of food every day? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

[@Shaden0040]

Our weeping willow trees had tons of spittle bugs. Plus the willows would weep on their own. Standing under them at this time of the year it felt like it was misting all day long.

[@JieGuoJason]

When mosquito went vegan

[@JustADioWhosAHeroForFun]

So basically, these bugs are making a pandemic for plants

[@bluesap7318]

Creature from hell

[@TheChickenRiceBowl]

@@bluesap7318 What?

[@bingbonghafu]

Hello

[@kazelalla7577]

I live in the province Lecce. It was so hard seeing my over 500 years olives die and do nothing about it.

[@silentsmilez503]

Palestinians had all their olive trees burned to the ground by zionists who killed them and took their land funded by US tax dollars, they also did 9/11

[@theincarnationofboredom207]

Oh I love these little guys. I used to see them all over where I used to live.

[@claireisacamel]

Sticky, bubbly pee. How absolutely odd 😆

[@DevilsTrueLies]

I have wondered what that "spit" is for like 20 years! Now I need a new mystery

[@DerNunu]

Well if they would be bigger, those things would probably win every eating competition.

[@OmegaMegalodon]

u will be looking at world extinction events when all plants die off and nothing left.

[@Eric-sy1xu]

I feel like the analogy between Spittlebugs and Mosquitos shouldve been made Both eat your Fluids Both can give a potentially deadly disease to the host

[@UGNAvalon]

_cough_ ticks _cough_

[@Eric-sy1xu]

@@UGNAvalon One has a bigger impact than the other

[@UGNAvalon]

@@Eric-sy1xu Lyme Disease?

[@Eric-sy1xu]

@@UGNAvalon You tell me bro Which, between Malaria and Lyme disease, kills people in the Hundreds Of Thousands every year, and which one kills round about 1/1000th of that number? Mosquitos & Spittlebugs are similar in their potential for Massive impact. That was the point. It's not that deep bro.

[@UGNAvalon]

@@Eric-sy1xu ok, ok, you got me.... 😓

[@imcarlost]

"Fastidiosa" in spanish means bothersome, how fitting.

[@TheRealFlenuan]

In Latin it means something like "disgusting" or "nauseating"

[@tomf3150]

Fastidieux in french means the same.

[@Nerobyrne]

funny, fastidious in English means "difficult to please or maintain".

[@noiJadisCailleach]

In Hogwartz, It's just some muggle word.

[@sazze85]

Same as in Italian

[@bluesap7318]

I used to crush these whenever I visited my grandparents

[@meetaverma8372]

I do that too

[@sjakierulez]

@iBiana Doubt You based that upon what?

[@DeltafangEX]

@@sjakierulez Benefit of the doubt. It's pretty narcissistic to think everyone who does things you don't like is a psychopath in the making. By definition it's already unlikely, then farther unlikely that they actually hurt someone.

[@ashley-GX3]

@iBiana Doubt how is crushing a bug the same thing as torturing a small animal? Just curious, cuz those 2 things seem completely different to me... crushing would be instantaneous death, not torture... and I'm sorry but I can't see killing bugs and killing small animals as being the same thing.

[@nutzeeer]

So can we gene modify to bug to not carry the bacterium? Like with malaria moskitos?

[@fionafiona1146]

Technology exists but it's hardly practical

[@allhumansarejusthuman.5776]

@@fionafiona1146 today this is true.

[@Tinyvalkyrie410]

Based on some quick googling there have been some attempts at creating genetic phages, and one attempt to sterilize the bugs genetically. It doesn’t seem like anyone has used them commercially however.

[@Hermititis]

Even if we could, it would take a few (insect) generations for it to propagate amongst all members of a species. And that's assuming the modification didn't cause some other issues (some genes don't control only 1 trait/process, or don't act in isolation) that would keep the modified insects from spreading their new genome among the wild population.

[@TheReal_ist]

@Van The fact science is funded by urgency and not on curiosity or the urgency of people who DON'T CONTROL THE MONEY YOUR GETTING is just pathetic and sad. Your species will never advance fast enough before u reach the great filter if you don't change this methodology. Best of luck smelly apes.

[@cRAVEtrance]

I had seen cuckoo spit once and always wondered what it was, thank you for answering a question I had long forgotten about :-)

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

That bug needs to wear a mask.

[@christelheadington1136]

..and a diaper apparently.

[@markdawson425]

This answers a lot of questions, I find this spittlebug spit all over my yard

[@amethyst1826]

I'm glad Hank said it was also called 'Cuckoo Spit', because I was thinking it looked just like it and had been about to ask if that was something different?! 😆

[@SajeevaYoga1]

I've been India for a few months ..and saw these spit bubbles for the first time. I kept wondering if it was plant disease..bug related, or even the local toads or frogs with some weird mating practice I didn't know of. Then this video appears today, nice! I've also seen the pictured insect too

[@memomorph5375]

I’ve seen these since I was little and never knew what they were! Thanks scishow!

[@earthrocker4247]

Froghoppers & Cuckoo Spit, that takes me back to my childhood.

[@lilypad5111]

I used to see these all over poisonous berry plants when I was younger but I never touched them in case I did once and I seen a bug

[@mariofilippi3539]

Just found these in my yard and had to know more. Thanks to you I've been thoroughly enlightened.

[@jossypoo]

I love the plant representation! Let's talk more about bacterial infections in plants! The tree of life includes our tree families too! How about some plant phylogeny and myth debunking!?

[@Aereto]

First things first, intentionally prune out certain species detrimental to agriculture and food supply instead of unintentionally pruning out genuses that happen to be in the way of a lot of people.

[@lachiemcmillan9934]

‘Somewhere between the size of a short grain of rice and an unshelled peanut’ - The US will use anything but the metric system

[@pheart2381]

What he meant is between 1500 and 75 bugs will fit into a cup.

[@EasterWitch]

In my country we call it witches spit

[@gjimenahernandez1001]

Where r u from?

[@Tymeshifter]

@@gjimenahernandez1001 One of the google search results says: ...in Scandinavian countries the froth is known as 'witches' spit'... If I search further, I may find out which countries are Scandinavian 🙂

[@Jeuro38]

@EthanHarry Du nope, add Denmark, remove Finland

[@Toocoolforunclesam]

Solidarity wasps were used to control the emerald ash borer beetle in Canada. You can find them in sandy burrows usually around farmers fields.

[@natepomeroy9756]

4:19 If John Green has taught me anything, I think you mean "hectakers" there, Hank.

[@PlantYes]

Thanks so much for making a video about this, Hank! Loved it :)

[@davidealessandri2893]

I have relatives in south Italy and they were hit HARD by the xylella. They had to cut and burn down almost every olive tree they had (my dad's cousin had like 250 trees and some were even more than 200 years old) and most of them changed their culture from olive trees to corn fields. Now most italian olive oil is made from imported olives.

[@TheCian19]

I've had this on my rosemary plant constantly and didn't realise this was what was happening, Only thing I don't get is nothing bad seems to happen to it. Ive had the plant for 10 years now

[@a-goblin]

big fan of the animation. it's very simple and clear. it'd be cool to see more like it in the future.

[@quiltguy1906]

Never realized these insects could be so much trouble. The only time I would see them in my garden was when I grew French tarragon( who knew an insect could be so gourmet?) Every leaf axil would have its own frothy mound of spittle, and the tiny bug would be secreted inside of it. I'd hose down the plants with a forceful stream of water, sometimes the bugs returned but eventually they got the hint and went elsewhere.

[@joepeck2942]

Is that like Humans Accidentally Doom Planets?

[@juicemister]

In the southeastern United States, where I’m from, it’s actually _impossible_ for us to grown European grapes due to the high rate of X. fastidiosa infection through sap-sucking insects. Instead, we have to rely on native grape species that have adapted to resist the bacteria- Vitis labrusca and Muscadinia rotundifolia. These native grapes taste good and are great for wines and jams, but they aren’t great for eating indoors because they have tough, inedible skins and large seeds that, though very rich in nutrients, are usually spit out. Because you have to spit out part of each berry, most people consider them “outdoor eating” grapes. Some work is being done on crossing these native grapes with “indoor eating” European ones (seedless with thin skins) to get resistant European-like varieties, but progress is slow as the hybrid varieties are still somewhat vulnerable to infection. Scientists from the University of Arkansas are also working on producing “indoor eating” varieties of our native grapes, but progress is once again slow.

[@teethgrinder83]

I've seen this "foam" every year here in Scotland in the countryside and always thought it was grasshopper eggs, after a quick look online though it seems as though my dog was getting covered in something much nastier

[@kmarapatt]

I tried to watch this while eating pizza and... I will have to save this video for later

[@callumjennings6336]

I misread the title and read planets instead of plants. And my interest peaked ten-fold despite really not making sense.

[@HaggRat]

I read it as: 'How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Planets' and I was a bit worried to say the least

[@aaronmicalowe]

I used to see these all the time when I was a kid. Mostly on grasses in the countryside of Scotland.

[@RhiSoundsLikeRye]

I had never seen them in Alaska until this year (lived here 26 years) and they are incredibly abundant this year. With climate change, Alaska has been extremely rainy and gloomy this year and I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

[@PaperDragons]

Reminds me of the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter. I found one in my garden just this week. Here in Sothern California, they are an invasive species that can kill weed crops.

[@pamelamays4186]

Hermione Granger, listening to Hank say fastidiosa: "You're saying it all wrong."

[@davidescarraga8962]

Quick fact : "Fastidiosa" means annoying in Spanish

[@pierrecurie]

I thought of fastidious; wiktionary says "From Latin fastīdiōsus (“passive: that feels disgust, disdainful, scornful, fastidious; active: that causes disgust, disgusting, loathsome”), from fastīdium (“a loathing, aversion, disgust, niceness of taste, daintiness, etc.”)"

[@sazze85]

It's the same in Italian

[@marko5766]

I suspect there may be a host plant this doesn't kill, or else it will burn itself out. The xylella fastidiosa is also the cause of Oleander Blight in California, but delivered through different insects, the glassy winged sharpshooter and the blue-green sharpshooter. These bugs are also foreign invaders to southern CA as I recall.

[@Tara-id3rk]

Woooow!! For the first time ever, the “wild” part of our property full of weeds and wild flowers were FULL of those spit wads. I had no idea what spittle bugs were until I googled it. The spittle bugs seemed to be on every damn stem. And I had no idea they became those annoying little hoppers I’ve found everywhere since. But no worries.....my garden is surrounded by that overgrowth 😭😭 This is bad news. But now I know! Thanks for the education

[@pauljs75]

I wonder if that's what causes those red spots on a lot of plants, since the anti-fungal spray didn't seem to be making much of a dent in it? (Went with the anti-fungal stuff, since most quick guides on plant disease seem to show that as some symptom of a fungus. But perhaps some other things can produce similar symptoms?)

[@knucklesskinner253]

“Hogwarts spell” never heard of those lmao

[@TheRealFlenuan]

smh

[@Nerobyrne]

from what those words mean, the spell would probably make you vomit bugs ^^

[@trishcomey6322]

Always enjoy your educational episodes. Have your tackled the Chinese Lantern Fly? Our area is covered with the pretty, but troublesome buggers. (Also a note to you: enjoyed your books)

[@lzylifeguidesubscribe2124]

3:05 Dang I had to rewind that a few times to know how to pronounce that word Xyella Fastidiosa

[@markmower6507]

Ok I subscribed. There was a recent article in North Carolina about don't touch the foam and report if you see the foam. And It just reminded me of the time when I was 6 or 7 when my Parents let me watch the Movie Invasion of The Body Snatchers, and a few weeks later my Dad took me to watch The Movie The Shining, Hahahahahahahaha 😂!!!

[@Christopher-N]

Is this why I sometimes see those triangular boxes hanging in orchards? Traps for spittlebugs?

[@Bucorax]

The thing with olive trees in Salento is, that the cause for the death of the trees is not so easy to determine. There is also politics and money involved and the damage from the bacteria might actually not be the real reason for the destruction of the huge areas with old trees, as i learned from an article by journalist Petra Reski. There is also research on this topic by Margherita Ciervo of the University of Foggia. She has even Videos on KZbin about the olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS).

[@DPowered2]

SciShow: Its not bird spit its bug pee let us be clear Also SciShow: Beware the Bug Spit!!

[@robby7499]

Spittlebug: It was a prank, bro.

[@pamelamays4186]

Spittlebug. Kinda sounds like a cute kids' cartoon show/character.

[@GeneSimmon]

*OH OH OH* When I was in 6th Grade, I found these foam like things on the leaves of plants near our school. I took one and brought it to our room but someone squished it sadly.

[@jenford7078]

We always called tthat frog spit because it would mostly be on plants in our meadow that had a river running through it... If my mother had known this info she would have worried herself into an early grave.

[@JohnJohansen2]

1:44 Please! Keep repeating that! 🙂

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

It would be interesting to research why olive groves that have been in existence for a very long time have suddenly succumbed to this bacterial infection.

[@StrangeGamer859]

Probably global warming

[@alysonshorthouse8858]

Sci-show: That would be like you eating 19 tonnes of food a day Me: you don't know me!

[@TCWgamingchannel]

Growing up I was told it was snake spit and that meant to stay away from the area because a snake was near

[@bioemiliano]

Xylexa fastidiosa? Well it's a really accurate name, this bacteria is indeed fastidiosa

[@herlescraft]

Now i know why my field olive oli production declined heavily from the last 5 years

[@gvozdencekicevic1322]

Thanks for the info, super useful to kmow this.

[@bluecrownvic]

Why is it that in the Beirut explosion every camera can hear and feel the explosion long before the shock wave hits? What is traveling faster than sound through the air and ground?

[@PrivateSi]

Here in Spittleton we collect cuckoo spit from our coca plantation for the now world famous Spittle Cola and Spittle Tea.. No cuckoos are harmed in the making - although our Old Cuckoo Pie is a favourite with us local.

[@bloodandempire]

Ugh I do really love learning about insects but I hate them at the same time. So creepy and efficient 😭😭😭

[@Vandalia1998]

So we don’t know what eats the bugs or eats the Bacteria or which Bacterial Phages we can use on them?

[@RexTorres]

Hermione: It's not fastidiosuh. It's fastee-dee-OWW-sa.

[@gaara0075]

Lol good to know that It was bug pee and not bug spit that I might have been allergic to as a kid

[@svenmorgenstern9506]

19 tons of food a day? Challenge accepted! Nomnomnomnomnomnomnom...🍺🥨🍗🥩🍕🌭🌮🍿

[@lordgarion514]

2 questions. Do they know why the bacteria can only infect certain species? And got a link to a list of all the species they can infect?

[@UnchosenMountainBerry]

How they breathe in that bubbly cockoon?

[@MelI-zm9lj]

Wait 19 Long Tons or Short Tons?

[@massimookissed1023]

Well they weren't tonnes, anyway.

[@womanofsubstance8735]

Some preventative information would have been nice. For instance, will insecticidal soap keep them off, or is a systemic insecticide effective? Inquiring minds want to know.

[@the_encephalonaire]

What would happen if we keep on heating water vapour to ( infinite^n )°C , ie. Such a high temperature which can't be imagined or measured , then can it give rise to a new state of matter of water?

[@davids7182]

"It's not birds spit, it's bugs spit" it's gross either way 🤣

[@paintnamer6403]

"Mosses and a few others" I want to be those now!

[@paintnamer6403]

You were off camera when you said the number "One million" but I would like to think that you had your pinky up to your face Dana Carvey like.

[@maninthehills7134]

We need many thousands of bat and bird houses put up in and around orchards and farms. The science thus far suggests they are prey to mainly birds and wasps, but bat and bird houses are good for general insect control. Sparrows can eat the spittlebugs and bats can eat mosquitoes.

[@Tymeshifter]

No bat house please! Bats are notorious carriers of coronavirus.

[@maninthehills7134]

@@Tymeshifter Bats are near-harmless as long as you're not messing with them. Covid19 is only an issue because China captured bats and GMO'd the heck out of an otherwise benign flu.

[@notthereivax8277]

1st thing I love the show. 2nd can you help us out with something? I live in indiana and we've been having really bad storms and last night we had a hollow tree that was really huge fall down it looked perfectly healthy but it was hollow I wonder if a bug or something made it hollow because we think there are more and we want to stop it Edit:It's so big around 3 to 5 people are needed in order to hug it so its probably a few hundred years old

[@donnaritteger9415]

Does it hurt to use plants that have spittle on them for medicinal purposes?

[@ElTwOJaY]

Fastidiosa is the famle version of "Annoying" in spanish 😂

[@MonkingFlame]

can't we develop some kind of antibiotik against the bacteria? so that vou would only have to inject it into the plants or have them consume it via their roots or smth?

[@KenTheSith]

I knew my olives tasted weird lately.

[@WiiFan20XX]

Why is it difficult to find or create antibiotics for plants?

[@jasonenns5076]

We should use pesticides to get rid of the spittle bugs all together which would be a lot less expensive since you can use petroleum to make it, and petroleum is abundant.

[@VerityBurke]

I have two bugs that invade my house from my neighbor and they laid eggs in my fingers and they keep feeling me through the full of fluid and they're leaving their big white little things around my house and I can't find any information on the internet

[@uplink-on-yt]

Xylem sap, Phloem sap... Now you're just making words up. This isn't Futurama nor Rick and Morty.

[@matteoputignano3294]

Eh...well, here in Lecce we can always try to restore our old oak forest..

[@cadr003]

So its like malaria but for crops?

[@massimookissed1023]

Why is no-one investigating how olive trees get over a hundred years old in less than a decade? That's serious Nobel goodies right there!

[@-Devy-]

That's not what he said. Spend more time on reading comprehension and less time on trying to be funny.

[@massimookissed1023]

@@-Devy- , you must be a hoot at parties(!)