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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) » Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers (Cicadomorpha) » Leafhoppers and Treehoppers (Membracoidea) » Typical Treehoppers (Membracidae) » Smiliinae » Buffalo Treehoppers and allies (Ceresini) » Spissistilus » Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper (Spissistilus festinus)

Species Spissistilus festinus - Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper

ID Request - Spissistilus festinus Green hopper - Spissistilus festinus treehopper - Spissistilus festinus Spissistilus festinus? - Spissistilus festinus Stictocephala? - Spissistilus festinus Spissistilus festinus (?) on Alfalfa plants in Phoenix, AZ. - Spissistilus festinus Spissistilus festinus - male Spissistilus festinus - Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper? - Spissistilus festinus
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 Membracidae (Typical Treehoppers)
Subfamily Smiliinae
Tribe Ceresini (Buffalo Treehoppers and allies)
Genus Spissistilus
Species festinus (Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Spissistilus festinus (Say) (1)
Orig. Comb: Ceresa festina Say 1830
Size
6-7 mm(2)
Range
e. US to Calif. / Mex. to Panama / W. Indies - Map (2)(1)(3), mostly s. half of US (BG data)
Food
many plant species, including most cultivated legumes and grasses, although seldom is the resultant damage considered significant(2)

Nymphs will damage black locust seedlings by feeding on the stems, 1-2" above the base. Gall-like swellings or calluses develop above the feeding puncture. The seedling can break at die at these points. (4)
Remarks
common in Florida (2)
Internet References
Membracidae of Florida(2)
Works Cited
1.Richness of the Nearctic treehopper fauna (Hemiptera: Aetalionidae and Membracidae)
Deitz L.L., Wallace M.S. 2012. Zootaxa 3423: 1–26.
2.Rothschild M.J. (2012) A checklist of the Membracidae of Florida
3.Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
4.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 22 January, 2005 - 1:04am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Mike Quinn, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 15 July, 2023 - 4:23pm

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