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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) » Microleafhoppers (Typhlocybinae) » Empoascini » Empoascina » Empoasca » Potato Leafhopper (Empoasca fabae)

Species Empoasca fabae - Potato Leafhopper

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

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)

Subfamily Typhlocybinae (Microleafhoppers)

Tribe Empoascini

Subtribe Empoascina

Genus Empoasca

Species fabae (Potato Leafhopper)

Explanation of Names

Empoasca fabae (Harris 1841)

Identification

Pale green with a row of six white spots behind the head seen only with help of a lens

Range

e. N. Amer., Calif., scattered w. records / Mex. to C. Amer. - Map(1), (migrates north every year from TX)(2)

Food

hosts: >200 cultivated and wild plant spp.(2)(3), particularly legumes(4)

Is disturbed by dense trichome of certain bean varieties.(5)

Remarks

Pest of alfalfa, fruits, and vegetables; most damaging to alfalfa and clover(6); major pest of potato(7)

Can't survive cold winter and migrates every spring from TX northward(6)

Two bean varieties, Phaseolus vulgaris and P. lunatus, have hooked trichomes on their leaves. These hook the leafhopper through the intersegmental membrane of the abdomen and limbs.(8)

These leafhoppers induce changes in potato plants that make them more resistant to Leptinotarsa decimlineata(9)

Internet References

Species page(2)

Fact sheets: Cook et al. (2004)(6) | anon.(3)

Annals of the Entomological Society of America. Long-Range Movement of the Potato Leafhopper, Empoasca fabae

PLOS. Climate Change and Phenology: Empoasca fabae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) Migration and Severity of Impact

Works Cited

1.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

2.	Dmitriev D.A. (2003-) 3I interactive keys and taxonomic databases

3.	Extension Publications --Oklahoma State U. Entomology & Plant Pathology

4.	Garden Insects of North America : The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs (Princeton Field Guides) Whitney Cranshaw. 2004. Princeton University Press.

5.	Interrelationship Between Insects and Plants Pierre Jolivet. 1998. CRC Press.

6.	University of Illinois Extension -- Integrated pest management: Insect information

7.	Agricultural insect pests of temperate regions and their control Hill D.S. 1987. Cambridge Univ Press. 659 pp.

8.	Insects and the Plant Surface Barrie Juniper and Sir Richard Southwood. 1986. Edward Arnold Ltd.

9.	Insect Ecology: Behavior, Populations and Communities P. W. Price, R. F. Denno, M. D. Eubanks. 2011. Cambridge University Press.

Contributed by tom murray on 20 June, 2005 - 8:19am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, Graham M, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 17 September, 2023 - 12:32pm

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