Privet Leafhopper – Fieberiella florii

Privet Leafhopper – Fieberiellaflorii

Common Name: Privet Leafhopper

Latin Name:  Fieberiellaflorii

Appearance:

• Large and tough species. Males are 6.60—7.50 mm long, whereas females are 7.00—7.40 mm long.
• The body is a medium tan to dark brown tint with many small brown and black flecks. Nymphs have white-speckled patterns running down the rear of the head, thorax, and abdomen.
• They are greenish-yellow in color. The end of the core is covered in several long, stiff hairs.
• Adults have pale wings with brown veins and a brown band running across the center of each branch. The head has been lowered. The wings are pulled closely together at the end to form a flattened profile, roof-like, over the abdomen.

Host plant:     

This leafhopper overwinters on ornamental hosts, including privet, boxwood, myrtle, hawthorn, pyracantha, Ceanothus, Cotoneaster, crabapple, and apple as nymphs. It also lays eggs on ornamental hosts and deciduous fruit trees.

Territory:

It is native to Europe and established in the United States and Canada.

Damages caused by Privet Leafhopper:

Leafhoppers eat the fluids off weeds, fruit plants, and ornamental plants’ leaves. Some leafhoppers can spread the phytoplasma that causes the X disease from sick cherry trees to healthy fruit trees.

Life history and habits:

This leafhopper is a pest on many ornamental shrubs and trees, including privet, photinia, laurels, and members of the rose family (cherry, apple, apricot). Nymphs emerge in the spring after eggs spend the winter on tree bark.