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Leafhoppers

Leafhoppers

Family Cicadellidae

Insect

Small, wedge-shaped, fast-moving insects that hop or fly off sideways when disturbed. They suck sap from leaves, leaving a pale stippling, and some scorch the foliage with a toxic feeding burn or carry plant diseases from one plant to the next.

🔎 How to spot it

Leafhoppers are slender, wedge-shaped insects about an eighth of an inch long, often bright green, yellow, or brown, that scuttle sideways and quickly hop or fly when approached. The wingless nymphs do the same sideways shuffle on the leaf undersides. Look for fine white stippling on the leaves, cast skins on the undersides, and the insects themselves darting away as you turn a leaf.

🥀 Damage it causes

Their feeding flecks leaves with pale stippling; under heavy attack the leaf tips and margins yellow, brown, and curl in a scorch called hopperburn, especially on beans and potatoes. Beyond direct feeding, some leafhoppers spread plant pathogens such as aster yellows, and that disease transmission is often the bigger concern.

🛡️ Prevent it

Cover susceptible crops with row cover early to keep leafhoppers off, and clear weeds and old debris that shelter them and the diseases they carry. Keep plants healthy and watered so they better withstand feeding, and protect the spiders, lacewings, lady beetles, and tiny parasitic wasps that naturally suppress leafhoppers by avoiding broad-spectrum insecticides.

🧯 If it is already here

A strong spray of water knocks nymphs off, and insecticidal soap or neem oil helps against heavy infestations when aimed at the leaf undersides where they feed. Remove and destroy plants showing aster-yellows symptoms, since there is no cure for the disease once a plant has it. Otherwise tolerate light stippling, which rarely harms a vigorous plant.

💡 Good to know

Most of the time leafhoppers cause only cosmetic stippling that healthy plants outgrow; the reasons to act are hopperburn on crops like beans and potatoes and, above all, the diseases certain species transmit. Their many natural enemies usually keep numbers down, so the priority is preserving those predators and pulling diseased plants.

🌱 Plants it attacks

714 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAgrimonyAji Amarillo Pepper🍓Albion StrawberryAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAlmondAloe VeraAmbrosia CornAmerican BasswoodAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican BeechAmerican PersimmonAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAniseAnise HyssopAnjou PearAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApple MintApril Tryst CamelliaArbequina OliveArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArkin CarambolaArmenian CucumberAroniaArp RosemaryArugulaAshwagandhaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAtlantic Giant Pumpkin🥕Atomic Red CarrotAucubaAugust Beauty GardeniaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAutumn Joy SedumAvocadoBachelor's ButtonBalsam FirBalsam PoplarBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBartlett PearBay LaurelBayberryBeach PlumBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBilberryBing CherryBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Beluga LentilBlack Cherry TomatoBlack CrowberryBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Kabouli ChickpeaBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack Sapote🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green BeanBluecrop BlueberryBocking 14 ComfreyBok Choy

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.