Scientists are calling for thousands of volunteers to help record sightings of spittle and spittlebugs, also known as froghoppers, across the UK to pre-emptive a deadly plant disease.
The frothy spittle, often called cuckoo spit, is a sign that the insect spittlebug is feeding on a plant.
The recorded sightings will be used to create a distribution map of the insect, in an attempt to beat the deadly plant disease which is moved from one plant to another by plant-sucking insects such as the spittlebug.
Although currently clear, the UK is on high alert of Xylella, which has struck in many EU countries.
The bacterium could affect 'key plants in our landscape', including rosemary, lavendar and the oak.
Dr Rebekah Robinson, senior plant pathologist at the Royal Horticultural Society, told the BBC: "Xylella has 563 different host plants worldwide, so it affects a huge range of different species.
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"One of the really devastating things that could happen is that it could actually affect our native tree species as well, things like oak trees, a number of different ash species, sycamore - key plants in our landscape."
Volunteers will record where and when they've caught sight of spittle or a spittlebug, for example whether they were spotted in gardens, grasslands and woodlands.
The recorded results will help scientists better understand how Xylella might enter and spread in the UK.
You can record sightings here.
