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Rose Leafhopper

Edwardsiana rosae[3]

The rose leafhopper is a small, pale European leafhopper that breeds on roses and brambles and spends the summer on apple and other trees.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Cicadellidae
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-16
Pale cream rose leafhopper resting on a leaf vein
Pale cream rose leafhopper resting on a leaf vein. (c) Peter Preus, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Related profiles
  9. Common questions
  10. Sources

How to identify it

  • Young nymphs are white with red eyes; the red is gone by the fourth instar.[1]
  • Nymphs carry small black spots on the thorax and wing pads, which separate them from the similar white apple leafhopper.[2]
  • Adults look so much like the white apple leafhopper that they cannot be told apart in the field.[1][2]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
White apple leafhopperNearly identical as adults and causes the same leaf injury on apple; rose leafhopper nymphs have the black spots.[1][2]

Where it lives

A European leafhopper now found on rose-family plants throughout the United States and southern Canada.[1]

Biology and life cycle

Eggs laid in rose and bramble canes in fall hatch in spring, and the first generation develops on rose; egg sites show as dark, raised or purplish spots.[1][2]

There are about three generations a year; first-generation adults move to apple and other trees in early June, and adults appear again in August.[1][2]

Summer generations lay eggs in the undersides of leaves of apple, cherry, dogwood, elm, hawthorn, maple, oak and poplar.[1]

Damage and signs

  • Feeding leaves yellow spots on leaves; on apple, badly injured leaves may drop early.[1]
  • On roses, feeding can let in stem-canker fungi that kill canes, and roses are sometimes killed.[1]
  • On fruit, leafhopper excrement and honeydew leave small dark specks; moderate drought favors outbreaks.[2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Sanitation

Removing wild roses, the fall egg-laying sites, near apple trees may reduce local numbers.[1][2]

Traps and physical control

If rose canes carry many egg spots, prune out and destroy them before eggs hatch in spring, where that won't disfigure the plant.[1]

Biological control

An egg-parasitoid wasp, Anagrus armatus, has at times cut numbers enough that no treatment was needed; lacewings and spiders also eat leafhoppers.[1]

Pesticides

Penn State notes that insecticides used for aphids also control leafhoppers, timed for young nymphs.[2]

Common questions

What are the tiny pale hoppers under my rose leaves?
In spring, often rose leafhopper nymphs feeding on the leaf undersides.[1]
Can rose leafhoppers kill roses?
Occasionally; heavy feeding and the canker fungi that can follow may kill canes or whole plants.[1]

Sources

  1. UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program (Landscape Insect & Mite Guide), “Edwardsiana rosae (Rose Leafhopper).” www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/landscape/publications-resources/insect-mite-guide/edwardsiana-rosae-l (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. Penn State Extension, “Tree Fruit Insect Pest - Rose Leafhopper (updated Oct. 12, 2026).” extension.psu.edu/tree-fruit-insect-pest-rose-leafhopper (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. iNaturalist, “Edwardsiana rosae taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127622 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-16. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.