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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 Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)

Family Cicadellidae - Typical Leafhoppers

Classification · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
Bugs from seeds - Scaphytopius Leafhopper 09.07.13 (1) - Erythridula nymph - Oncopsis leafhopper - Oncopsis citrella Is this a Coppery Leafhopper (Jikradia olitoria)? - Jikradia olitoria Leafhopper - Paralimnina Oncopsis - male USNM_ENT 01513495 (LECTOTYPE) - Agalliopsis oculata - female
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
Explanation of Names
Cicadellidae Latreille 1825
Numbers
~3,000 described species in NA, ~23,400 worldwide (estimated global diversity >100,000 spp.) arranged into 19 subfamilies and almost 130 tribes(1)(2)(3)
Size
2‒30 mm, usually <13 mm
Identification
Key to subfamilies and tribes in (1), simplified version in (4)
Wing nomenclature
Range
worldwide; in NA, some species migrate south in the fall and back north in the spring
selected checklists and faunal works:(5)
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 hatch within weeks; nymphs undergo five molts, reaching adult stage in several weeks or months
Remarks
Leafhoppers have sound-producing organs (tymbals) at the base of abdomen (song usually too faint for human ear)
Several species are serious crop pests; some transmit plant pathogens
Internet References
taxon page(3)
Works Cited
1.Keys to the families of Cicadomorpha and subfamilies and tribes of Cicadellidae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha)
Dietrich C.H. 2005. Florida Entomologist 88: 502-517.
2.Dietrich C.H. (2001-2008) Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadellidae)
3.Dmitriev D.A. (2003‒) 3I interactive keys and taxonomic databases
4.Cicadellidae subfamily key
5.Hamilton K.G.A. (1998) "Short-Horned" Bugs (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha) [of the Montane Cordillera Ecozone]
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Stephen_WV, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, ceiseman, Robert Lord Zimlich, v belov, antarctica
Last updated 16 June, 2025 - 1:50pm

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