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How to identify it
- Adults are dark brown, and their shape and color mimic the buds of their host plants.[1]
- Like the other leafhoppers in cherry orchards, it is a slender insect about 1/8 inch long or less. Adults hop or fly away when disturbed, and nymphs and adults can run forward, backward or sideways.[2]
- It is less active than the mountain leafhopper and does not travel as far looking for hosts.[1]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Mountain leafhopper | Colladonus montanus is another X-disease carrier in cherry orchards. UC IPM describes it as more active than the cherry leafhopper and more likely to travel in search of hosts.[1][2] |
| Other orchard leafhoppers | Several leafhopper species turn up in cherry orchards, ranging in color from green to brown; the cherry leafhopper is the dark brown one shaped like a bud.[2][1] |
Where it lives
UC IPM treats it as a pest of California cherry orchards, and the Pacific Northwest handbook lists it among the leafhoppers of cherries in that region. It has also been studied in apple orchards in northwestern Italy.[1][2][3]
Biology and life cycle
It spends the winter as nymphs on ornamental hosts such as privet, boxwood, myrtle, hawthorn, pyracantha, ceanothus, cotoneaster, crabapple and apple, and as eggs on ornamental hosts and deciduous fruit trees.[1]
Adults are active in three periods: mid-April through May, July, and September through October.[1]
Researchers in Italy describe it as highly polyphagous, feeding on many kinds of plants.[3]
Leafhopper numbers in cherry orchards tend to peak after harvest, which is also when the X-disease phytoplasma is most concentrated in infected trees.[2]
Damage and signs
- Leafhoppers suck juices from the leaves of cherries, ornamental plants and weeds.[2]
- Its main importance is as a carrier of X-disease (cherry buckskin), and UC IPM says it can be responsible for severe outbreaks.[1]
- Trees infected with X-disease may produce small, misshapen, bitter fruit. There is no cure, and infected trees should be removed so the disease does not spread.[2]
- In laboratory trials in Italy it also carried and transmitted the phytoplasma that causes apple proliferation to apple seedlings, although the researchers judged the risk in the field to be low because so few of these leafhoppers were found in orchards.[3]
Health risk
The sources describe it only as a plant pest and disease carrier; none mentions any risk to people or pets.[1][2]
Control
Prevention
Yellow sticky cards hung in the canopy during the growing season show which leafhoppers are present and where they come from, but UC IPM says they should not be used to decide when to treat. No action threshold has been set.[1][2]
Sanitation
Control weeds and other alternative hosts in and around the orchard, such as clovers, mallow, dandelion, curly dock, bitter cherry and chokecherry.[2]
Where X-disease is a concern, UC IPM advises treating and removing ornamental leafhopper hosts in or near the orchard, and removing infected cherry trees soon after an insecticide treatment while residue is still present.[1]
Pesticides
Where X-disease is present, UC IPM recommends in-season insecticide treatments starting right after harvest and repeated at 4- to 6-week intervals, depending on how long the product lasts. For home use, the PNW handbook lists azadirachtin (neem oil), horticultural mineral oil, insecticidal soap, kaolin, pyrethrins and imidacloprid.[1][2]
Common questions
- Why do cherry growers worry about the cherry leafhopper?
- Because it can carry the phytoplasma that causes X-disease, or cherry buckskin. Infected trees bear small, misshapen, bitter fruit, and there is no cure.[1][2]
- Where does the cherry leafhopper spend the winter?
- As nymphs on ornamental shrubs and trees such as privet, boxwood, myrtle, hawthorn, pyracantha and crabapple, and as eggs on ornamentals and deciduous fruit trees.[1]
- Can I use yellow sticky traps to time sprays?
- No. They tell you which leafhoppers are around and where they come from, but UC IPM says not to base treatment decisions on them.[1]
Sources
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Cherry Leafhopper, UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Cherry.” ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/cherry/cherry-leafhopper (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks (Oregon State University, Washington State University and University of Idaho Extension), “Cherry-Leafhopper, Pacific Northwest Insect Management Handbook.” pnwhandbooks.org/insect/tree-fruit/cherry/cherry-leafhopper (accessed 2026-11-09)
- American Phytopathological Society (Plant Disease), “Tedeschi R, Alma A. Fieberiella florii (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha) as a vector of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma mali'. Plant Disease 90(3):284-290 (2006) (abstract).” doi.org/10.1094/PD-90-0284 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- iNaturalist, “Fieberiella florii taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126622 (accessed 2026-11-09)