What Is A Leaf Hopper?

Leaf hoppers may look harmless, but they can cause a lot of issues for yard owners

Common to Virginia, leaf hoppers are a recognized pest, leaving damage in their path.

What Does A Leaf Hopper Look Like?

What Harm Does A Leaf Hopper Cause?

How Can I Protect Against Leaf Hoppers?

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What Does A Leaf Hopper Look Like?

Leaf hopper is a broad term for a huge number of varieties. Because of that, size and color are not uniform. The different types are all pretty small, usually between 1/4-1/8 inch, and they have wedge-shaped bodies. They can come in a range of colors such as black, brown, and green, with patterns in brighter colors like red, blue and orange.

The leaf hoppers blend in by looking like leaves, often being also described as looking like a very small cicada. They have distinctive spikes on their back legs.

What Harm Does A Leaf Hopper Cause?

Leaf hoppers are such a common problem, the damage they cause to plants is named after them: hopperburn. The leaf hoppers use their mouths to pierce the plant and inject toxins through their saliva. The plants then begin to wither, curl and turn brown or yellow, almost looking like they’ve been singed with fire (thus the name).

Additionally, they can leave white or silvery spots on the plants; they also excrete a substance that is sticky and encourages the growth of mold on the plants.

While leaf hoppers aren’t able to transmit disease to humans, they are able to spread plant diseases. They also lay their eggs inside the plant stems, causing even more damage to the plants.

With all these mechanisms of destruction, it’s no wonder that they are able to wreak death and havoc on gardens and yards before hopping on to the next.

How Can I Protect Against Leaf Hoppers?

There are some preventative measures you can take to help with leaf hoppers. In the winter, remove all dead growth, weeds and debris from your yard. This will eliminate potential locations for overwintering eggs to hatch in the spring. When plants are young and most susceptible to damage, cover them to create a physical barrier to keep leaf hoppers away. Planting strong smelling plants, such as garlic or geraniums, as these are a natural deterrent to leaf bugs.

If you notice signs of damage likely attributable to leaf hoppers, trim back affected areas and treat with insecticide. Don’t wait until things get out of control!

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To learn about more local Virginia pests, check out our pest library and our other blog posts