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Family Cicadellidae - Typical Leafhoppers

Broad-headed Sharpshooter nymph - Oncometopia orbona Coloring up - Colladonus geminatus Mostly green hopper - Spangbergiella mexicana - female Balclutha impicta Two-spotted Leafhopper - Sophonia orientalis Sharpshooter - reddish body - Cuerna undescribed-sp-tx-i Osbornellus ? - Scaphoideus obtusus Euscelidius variegatus? - Euscelidius variegatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers)
Infraorder Cicadomorpha (Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers)
Superfamily Membracoidea (Leafhoppers and Treehoppers)
Family Cicadellidae (Typical Leafhoppers)
Pronunciation
sik-ah-DELL-ih-dee
Numbers
about 3,000 described species in NA, ca. 22,000 described species worldwide (estimated global diversity >100,000 spp.) arranged into ~25 subfamilies and almost 60 tribes(1)(2)
Size
2-30 mm, usually under 13 mm
Identification
Key to subfamilies and tribes in(1), simplified version in(3)
Wing nomenclature
Range
worldwide; in NA, some species migrate south in the fall, and back north in the spring
selected checklists and faunal works:(4)
Habitat
nearly every habitat with vascular plants, incl. deserts, grasslands, wetlands, and forests
Season
year-round in the south; spring through fall in the north; some species overwinter as adults beneath leaf litter or matted grasses
Food
nymphs and adults feed on sap of above-ground stems or leaves of plants; some species are more host-specific than others
Life Cycle
varies according to species; in general, female inserts several eggs into living tissue of host plant; eggs either remain dormant for a period ranging from a month to over a year, or develop and hatch within a few weeks; nymphs undergo five molts, reaching adult stage in several weeks or months
Remarks
Leafhoppers coat their bodies and wings with a light dusting of water-repellent waxy material (brochosomes), sometimes distributed unevenly as bilaterally asymmetric whitish streaks [Dr Hamilton's comment]
Leafhoppers have sound-producing organs (tymbals) at the base of abdomen (songs usually too faint for human ear)
Several species are serious crop pests; some transmit plant pathogens (viruses, mycoplasma-like organisms, etc.)
all current extant subfamilies
Aphrodinae Haupt, 1927: worldwide
Bathysmatophorinae Anufriev, 1978: holarctic
Cicadellinae Latreille, 1825: worldwide
Coelidiinae Dohrn, 1859: worldwide (introduced in Europe)
Deltocephalinae Dallas, 1870: worldwide
Errhomeninae Fieber, 1872: palearctic
Eurymelinae Amyot & Serville, 1843: worldwide
Evacanthinae Metcalf, 1939: worldwide
Hylicinae Distant, 1908: afrotropical, indomalayan
Iassinae Walker, 1870: worldwide
Ledrinae Kirschbaum, 1868: worldwide
Megophthalminae Kirkaldy, 1906: worldwide
Mileewinae Evans, 1947: afrotropical, indomalayan, neotropical, australian
Neobalinae Linnavuori, 1959: neotropical
Neocoelidiinae Oman, 1943: nearctic, neotropical
Nioniinae Oman, 1943: nearctic, neotropical
Phereurhininae Kramer, 1976: neotropical [unpublished phylogenetic analysis reveals this subfamily to be a tribe of Cicadellinae]
Portaninae Linnavuori, 1959: neotropical
Signoretiinae Baker, 1915: afrotropical, indomalayan
Tartessinae Distant, 1908: indomalayan, australian, neotropical
Typhlocybinae Kirschbaum, 1868: worldwide
Ulopinae Le Peletier & Serville, 1825: old world
Internet References
(5)