Treatment for Grass Leafhoppers

Leafhoppers feed in expanses of grass.

Grass leafhoppers, members of the Cicadellidae family, are tiny insects that infest lawns, meadows and pastures, where they feed by using their mouthparts to pierce and suck the sap from grass blades. Although they can cause damage to grass, they will not kill an established lawn, and are considered a minor nuisance.

Significance

Grass leafhoppers can be found over the entire United States, but they exist in greater numbers in the South. Leafhopper damage on lawns appears as irregular patches of yellowing, wilting and shriveling grass, sometimes with bleached-looking lesions.

Identification

Grass leafhoppers are most visible when they are disturbed, and will rise up from meadows and lawns in a cloud, only to settle again a short distance away. They are tiny green or gray insects with long, tapered, slender bodies, usually under 1/3 of an inch in length.

Life Cycle

Female leafhoppers insert their eggs into the living tissue of a blade of grass. The eggs usually hatch the following spring--although they can remain dormant up to a year. The brood reaches maturity in early summer, in turn laying eggs that hatch in 10 to 12 days. The nymphs become egg-laying adults within a few weeks.

Fun Fact

Leafhoppers sing love songs to each other. Adult male and females have specialized courtship calls, inaudible to humans, that are produced by organs at the base of their abdomens.

Control with Insecticides

Chemical control is usually only employed with new lawns, or established lawns with particularly heavy damage. Broad spectrum insecticides should not be used, as they will harm beneficial insects. Chemicals used to control grass leafhoppers include acephate, bifenthrin, carbaryl and deltamethrin.

Biological/Natural Controls

Spiders help to control leafhoppers.

Removing weeds, and keeping the lawn maintained--fertilizing in the spring and fall, mowing frequently and watering during drought--can help control leafhoppers. Spiders and ants are leafhopper predators, as are carabid beetles.

References

• University of Minnesota.edu: Leafhoppers
• Inhs. Illinois.edu: Leafhoppers
• Missouri State University.edu: Turf Library