How to Control Leafhoppers on Outdoor Plants

Leafhoppers are 1/4- to 1/2-inch green wedge-shaped insects that hop when disturbed. Leafhoppers suck the juices from stems and leaves, and their toxic saliva burns and distorts foliage. They also spread viral diseases as they move from plant to plant. Here's how to get the upper hand.

Things You'll Need

• Spray Bottles
• Coreopsis Plants
• Dill Seeds
• Garden Hoses
• Pyrethrin
• Spring-flowering Bulbs
• Sticky Traps
• Fennel Seeds
• Insecticidal Soaps
• Neem Oil
• Damselflies

Instructions

1. Look for leafhoppers in the spring and summer months on the undersides of leaves. As you walk through your garden and disturb them, they hop like crazy.

2. Wash nymphs from plants with a strong jet of water. Wash the undersides of the leaves in particular.

3. Attract predatory insects such as predatory flies and parasitic wasps to your garden by planting coreopsis, dill, fennel, and nectar plants such as salvia.

4. Set out yellow sticky traps near the infested plants if the infestation is severe. (Be aware that yellow sticky traps may also trap beneficial insects.)

5. Purchase damselflies and release them near the affected plants. Damselflies are natural enemies of leafhoppers.

6. Spray insecticidal soap when the insects are most active - late morning to midafternoon.

7. Spray neem oil or pyrethrin to control leafhoppers. Neem oil is made from the neem tree and pyrethrin from chrysanthemum; both are organic pesticides. There are also chemical pesticides available for the control of leafhoppers.

Tips & Warnings

• Apply pesticides when the insects are most active to get the best control.

• Always try the least toxic method of pest control as your first step.

• Make your own yellow sticky traps by spreading Tanglefoot onto stiff yellow paper. Use a bent paper clip to hang the homemade traps.

• If you're lucky enough to have an alfalfa field nearby, you can collect your own damselflies using a sweep net.

• If you use chemical pesticides in your garden, you'll kill natural predators of leafhoppers.

• If you choose to use a chemical control, always wear protective clothing and safety gear, including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, neoprene gloves, goggles and a respirator.