Potato Leafhopper

Potato Leafhopper (Empoasca fabae) Adult potato leafhoppers are about 3 mm long, wedge-shaped, and winged. Generally greenish, they have very small, yellowish, pale or dark green spots, and readily jump when disturbed. The eggs are about 1 mm long, elongated, and whitish. Nymphs are wingless and smaller than the adults. Though paler, nymphs are colored similarly to adults.

During the summer, potato leafhoppers are found from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. They are absent throughout most of the winter, which they spend in the Gulf States. In North Carolina, these leafhoppers are widely distributed during the growing season on peanuts, hay, and pasture crops.

This leafhopper feeds on more than 100 cultivated and wild plants, including bean, potato, alfalfa, soybean, and peanut. In North Carolina, peanuts are more seriously affected by this pest than forage and pasture crops. Potato leafhoppers overwinter in the Gulf States and migrate northward in spring.

For control products and more information please see our Leafhopper and Planthopper Control page.