noun
froghoppers or spittlebugs
• Syn: ↑family Cercopidae
• Hypernyms: ↑arthropod family
• Member Holonyms: ↑Homoptera, ↑suborder Homoptera
• Member Meronyms: ↑spittle insect, ↑spittlebug, ↑Philaenus, ↑genus Philaenus, ↑Aphrophora, ↑genus Aphrophora
* * *
\(ˌ)sərˈkäpəˌdē\ noun pluralUsage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Cercopis, type genus (probably modification of Greek kerkōpē long-tailed cicada, alteration of kerkōps, a long-tailed ape & Kerkōps, one of a pair of malicious brothers captured by Heracles, from kerk- cerc- + ōps eye, face) + -idae — more at optic
: a family of insects (suborder Homoptera) including the froghoppers that suck the juices of plants and live in a mass of froth which they secrete
Useful english dictionary. 2012.