Insects World

 Leafhoppers

Scientific Classification

Scientific Name - Cicadellidae

Domain              - Eukaryota

Kingdom            - Animalia

Phylum              - Arthropoda

Class                  - Insecta

Order                 - Hemiptera

Family               - Cicadellidae

Sharpshooters are leafhoppers in the tribes Proconiini and Cicadellini within the family Cicadellidae in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha of the Hemiptera. Worldwide, there are nearly 20,000 described species, making the Cicadellidae the 10th largest insect family. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees.

Leafhoppers can be found on all continents in nearly every habitat that supports vascular plant life, including deserts, grasslands, wetlands and forests. They are usually found feeding on the above-ground stems or leaves of plants. Leafhopper adults are elongated, wedge shaped and somewhat triangular in cross-section. They jump and fly off readily. Depending on species, they range in size from 1/8 to 1/2-inch and their bodies are colored yellow, green, gray or they may be marked with color patterns. Several generations can occur in a single season, each one lasting from 12 to 30 days.

Leafhopper feeding causes leaves to develop pale specks. Leaves and shoot tips fed upon by an abundance of leafhoppers may turn yellow then brown and curl and die. Leafhoppers also excrete honeydew on which blackish sooty mold grows. Phytoplasmas are mainly spread by insects in the families Cicadellidae ( Leafhoppers ), Fulgoroidea ( Planthoppers ), and Psyllidae ( Jumping plant lice ), which feed on the phloem tissues of infected plants, picking up the phytoplasmas and trransmitting them to the next plant they feed on.

Although leafhoppers damage grasses and other plants, also they are part of nature.

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