Ptyelus grossus is a Hemipteran

Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs , comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others...

 spittlebug in the family Cercopidae

Cercopidae

Cercopidae are the largest family of Cercopoidea, a xylem-feeding insect group, commonly called froghoppers . They belong to the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha....

. Occurring from Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

 through to West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, the species is gregarious in its larval and nymph stages, feeding on a variety of plants and producing protective nests of acrid foam from the 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

Tipuana tipu

Tipuana tipu, known as Rosewood, is a South American tree of the genus Tipuana. Tipu trees can reach 100 feet in height and 60 feet wide. They are known for being shade trees. Tipu leaves vary in size from 1/2 inch to 3 inches or more and they grow in clusters. The flowers are bright yellow in...

, Peltophorum

Peltophorum

Peltophorum is a genus of between 5–15 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The genus is native to certain tropical regions across the world...

and Lonchocarpus

Lonchocarpus

Lonchocarpus is a plant genus in the legume family . The species are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate lance tip or a few beads on a string....

, although its catholic diet includes species of Grevillea

Grevillea

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees...

, Rhus, Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

, Vangueria

Vangueria

Vangueria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.-Distribution:The genus contains over 50 species distributed in Africa south of the Sahara with one species occurring in Madagascar . The centre of diversity is in East Africa and they are rare in West Africa.-Gousiekte:Several...

and even Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

.

Nymphs are predated by the gorytine wasp

Gorytini

Gorytini is a large and morphologically very diverse group of hunting wasps distributed worldwide and particularly species-rich in tropical areas. Most species hunt various hemipterans, especially among the Auchenorrhyncha, which they sting, paralyze, and provision in underground nests as food for...

 Pseudoplisus natalensis, the drosophilid

Drosophilidae

Drosophilidae is a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes fruit flies. Another family of flies called Tephritidae also includes fruit flies. The best known species of Drosophilidae is Drosophila melanogaster, within the genus Drosophila, and this species Is used extensively for...

 fly Leucophenga maculata and many others.