The garden fleahopper is a native insect occurring widely in the eastern United States and Canada. It is known to occur as far west as the Rocky Mountain region, but is relatively uncommon in the Great Plains. Its distribution extends southward through Central and South America to Argentina. In Florida it is a common garden pest, though not commonly a pest of commercial crops.
There appears to be five generations annually in Virginia, although there is considerable overlap among the generations, and all stages can be found through the warmer months. A life cycle can be completed in about 30 days. Overwintering occurs in the egg stage, with hatch of overwintering eggs occurring in April. In Florida, fleahoppers are present earlier in the season, and it has not been determined whether eggs hatch earlier or whether adults are the predominant overwintering form. However, adults have been captured all months of the year except December, so overwintering of eggs is not essential under Florida's warm winter conditions. Temperatures above 32ºC are reported to be unsuitable for fleahopper survival.
Egg: The eggs are normally inserted into the stems of vegetation. They are white to yellow in color, and measure about 0.7 mm in length and 0.2 mm in width. The egg is curved in shape, with one side convex and the opposite side concave. The female deposits the eggs in feeding punctures. The end inserted into the plant tissue is rounded whereas the end that is flush with the plant surface is truncate and level with the surface of the plant tissue. The female commences egg production about four days after mating, and deposits most eggs during the evening hours. She produces 80 to 100 eggs during her life span, which averages about 30 to 50 days. Duration of the egg stage is about 14 days, with a range of about 10 to 30 days.
| (a) Eggs on alfalfa leaf | (b) Egg |
Nymph: The nymphs are green in color. Initially they are pale green, but by the fifth and final instar they are dark green. First and second instars are difficult to distinguish, differing principally in size. In the third instar, however, a black dot is present on the sides of the prothoracic segment; the black spots persist through the remaining nymphal stages. In the fourth instar, wing pads are apparent, and extend back over the first abdominal segment. During the last instar the wingpads extend over about half of the abdominal segments. In females which are brachypterous (short-winged) as adults, the wings pads in the fifth instar tend to be slightly less than one-half the length of the abdomen. In males, or females which will be macropterous (long-winged) as adults, the wing pads in the fifth instar tend to be slightly longer than one-half the length of the abdomen. The mean duration of each instar is about 8.3, 9.9, 7.8, 5.8, and 7.2 days, respectively. Body length of each instar is about 0.7, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, and 2.0 mm, respectively.
Adult: The adults are shiny black in color, with some yellow on the antennae and legs. Garden fleahopper adults occur in three forms: brachypterous (short-winged) females, macropterous (long-winged) females, and macropterous males. The males are thin, measuring about 1.9 to 2.1 mm in length and 0.7 mm in width. The females are more robust, the brachypterous form measuring about 1.6 mm in length and the macropterous form measuring about 2.2 mm in length, with both forms about 1.0 mm in width. Females generally are brachypterous. The adults have greatly expanded hind femora and hop when disturbed. Thus, in both behavior and form (especially the brachypterous females) the fleahoppers resemble flea beetles. The long antennae of fleahoppers exceed the length of the body; this helps to distinguish fleahoppers from flea beetles, which have antennae less than half the length of the body. Fleahoppers and flea beetles also differ in their mouthpart configuration, having piercing-sucking and chewing mouthparts, respectively.
brachypterous (short-winged) adult female
macropterous (long-winged) adult male
leaf spotting caused by feeding
fecal spots on underside of leaf
This insect is rarely a pest of commercial vegetable crops because it is easily controlled with insecticides used against other, more serious, pests. However, it is commonly an early season nuisance in home gardens, especially those grown near wooded areas and on plants cultivated in semi-shade.
Insect Management Guide for vegetables
Insect Management Guide for field crops
Author: John L. Capinera, University of Florida
Photographs: Paul M. Choate and David Almquist, University of Florida
Project Coordinator: Thomas R. Fasulo,University of Florida
Publication Number: EENY-78
Publication Date: March 1999. Latest revision: April 2008.
Copyright 1999-2008 University of Florida
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Department of Entomology and Nematology
Division of Plant Industry
Electronic Data Information Source
adult
nymph