Leafhoppers

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They feed by sucking the sap of plants with veins, and are found almost anywhere such plants occur, from tropical rainforests to arctic tundra.

They have piercing, sucking mouthparts and have rows of hairs on their hind tibiae. They are found on stems and leaves of plants.

Some believe there are more than 100,000 species worldwide.

Leafhopper fossils dating from 125 million years ago have been discovered.

They will communicate with each other the same way cicadas produce sound, using tymbals at the base of the abdomen. Usually too soft to be heard by humans.

The most harmful agricultural ones are:

• Potato leafhopper
• Beet leafhopper
• White apple leafhopper
• Sharpnosed leafhopper
• Green leafhopper

Their family Cicadellidae include these characteristics:

• The thick portion of the antennae is extremely short and comes to an end that has a bristle.
• A pair of ocelli (rather simple eyes) can be found at the top or the front of the head.
• The skeletal structure is made of 3 sections.
• The thighbones are in front along with, for the most part, fragile spines.
• The rear shinbones possess a number of unique breastbone, which has a strip of moving spines on each one, occasionally on bigger bases.
• The bottom of the middle legs is near in unison in which they start underneath the thorax.
• The front side wings not really thickened.

Another characteristic of leafhoppers is brochosomes, gooey particles that prevent the bugs from being trapped in water and their own droppings. The females also use these particles to cover over the egg chambers they create when they lay eggs in plants.

Leafhopper enemies are:

• Lizards
• Birds
• Spiders
• Praying mantids
• Assassin bugs
• Robber flies
• Parasitic wasps, moths and flies

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