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Potato Psyllid

Potato Psyllid

Bactericera cockerelli

Insectalso: Tomato psyllid

A tiny sap-sucking insect, like a miniature winged aphid or cicada, whose feeding injects a toxin that yellows and stunts potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers, a condition called psyllid yellows. It can also carry a bacterium that causes zebra chip disease in potatoes, making this small insect a serious threat to nightshade crops.

🔎 How to spot it

Adults are about an eighth inch, aphid-like but jumping and winged, with clear wings held roof-like over the body. The flattened, scale-like nymphs are pale green to orange with a fringe of fine hairs and feed on the undersides of leaves. Look for the symptoms of psyllid yellows: yellowing or purpling, upward leaf curling, stunting, and shortened upper growth, plus tiny white granules of psyllid sugar on the leaves.

🥀 Damage it causes

As the nymphs and adults suck sap, they inject a toxin that causes psyllid yellows, curling, yellowing or purpling, and stunting the plant, with reduced, poor-quality fruit and small, rough-skinned, prematurely sprouting potatoes. They can also transmit the bacterium that causes zebra chip in potatoes, which streaks the tubers and ruins them, a more damaging problem than the yellows alone.

🛡️ Prevent it

Monitor early with yellow sticky cards and by checking leaf undersides for the flat nymphs and eggs, since early detection is key. Floating row cover protects young plants from the migrating adults. Control nightshade-family weeds that host the psyllid, and where zebra chip has occurred, plan protection from the start of the season.

🧯 If it is already here

There are few effective non-chemical controls once psyllids are established, so prevention and early detection matter most. Where psyllids are confirmed and especially where zebra chip is a risk, labeled insecticides targeting the nymphs can be warranted; insecticidal soaps and oils help on small plantings. Remove and destroy severely affected plants.

💡 Good to know

The same insect is called the potato psyllid and the tomato psyllid, and its real danger in potato country is less the psyllid yellows than the zebra chip disease it can spread, which shows up as dark streaks in fried potatoes. Checking leaf undersides for the flat, scale-like nymphs is the way to catch it before damage builds.

🌱 Plants it attacks

73 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Adirondack Blue PotatoAji Amarillo Pepper🥔All Blue PotatoAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperBanana PepperBeauregard Sweet Potato🍅Beefmaster TomatoBetter Boy Tomato🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Cherry TomatoBlack Krim Tomato🍅Box Car Willie TomatoBrandywine TomatoCarolina Reaper PepperCayenne PepperCelebrity TomatoCherokee Purple TomatoCubanelle PepperEarly Girl TomatoFairy Tale EggplantFingerling PotatoFresno PepperGerman Butterball Potato🍅German Queen TomatoGhost PepperGreen Bell PepperGreen Zebra TomatoHabanero PepperHungarian Wax PepperIndigo Rose TomatoItalian EggplantJalapeño PepperJapanese EggplantJuliet Grape TomatoKellogg's Breakfast TomatoKennebec Potato🍅La Roma IV TomatoLemon Boy Tomato🍅Mortgage Lifter TomatoMr. Stripey TomatoNorland PotatoOrange Bell PepperPadrón PepperPimento PepperPineapple TomatoPoblano PepperPurple Bell Pepper🥔Purple Majesty PotatoPurple TomatilloRed Bell PepperRed Pontiac PotatoRoma Tomato🍆Rosa Bianca EggplantRusset Potato🍅Rutgers TomatoSan Marzano TomatoScotch Bonnet PepperSerrano PepperShishito Pepper🍅Striped German Tomato🍅Sungold Cherry TomatoSweet 100 Cherry TomatoSweet Banana PepperThai Chili Pepper🍅Tiny Tim Cherry TomatoToma Verde TomatilloTrinidad Scorpion PepperYellow Bell PepperYellow Pear TomatoYukon Gold Potato

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.