Leafhoppers

Characteristics:

• Eggs: Females lay eggs on plant matter before winter. In spring, the eggs hatch into larvae.

• Larvae: Larvae resemble adults but are smaller and do not have wings. Larvae have sucking mouthparts which remove chlorophyll from leaves.

• Adults: Adults may vary depending which leafhopper species is present. In Regina, most leafhoppers are v-shaped, have sucking mouth parts, are about 3 millimetres long, and are green or yellow in colour. They jump or fly using their wings.

Identifying infestations:

• Stippled or dead areas on leaves: Leafhoppers remove the chlorophyll from leaves, leaving a yellow area (stipple) or brown dead area.

• Appearance of black sooty mould: As leafhoppers eat, honeydew is produced which attracts black sooty mould.

• ‘Flying” adult leafhoppers: Leafhoppers will fly or jump away from you when you walk through an infested area.

IPM Toolkit:

• Preventive tools:
  • Follow a regular watering, fertilizing, and pruning schedule to keep your trees as healthy as possible to resist attack.
  • Plant garden vegetables that are resistant to leafhopper damage.

• Physical tools:
  • Prune and destroy infested branches.

• Biological tools:
  • Several beneficial insects eat leafhoppers, including lacewings, ladybird beetles, some rove beetles, damsel bugs, assassin bugs, and ground beetles.

• Least toxic chemical tools: Not applicable