Potato Leafhoppers Have Arrived in PA
Posted: June 17, 2011
Adult potato leafhoppers have arrived in Central PA. It seems like our recent weather patterns have not only brought central PA significant amounts of rainfall but also early arrivals of PLH as well. Leafhoppers are small, pale or yellowish green insects. The adults can fly but the nymphs, which closely resemble the adults, cannot fly. They are considered the number one economic pest of alfalfa across the US.
Entomologists who study PLH tell us that about 70% of these early arriving leafhoppers are pregnant females that quickly deposit their eggs in such crops as alfalfa, potatoes, soybeans and on trees such as locust and maples. Once in PA this insect pest has a rapid population growth potential. Females will lay 3 to 7 eggs/day for 30 or more days. Within 3 weeks the eggs will have hatched, the nymph grown into maturity and new adults repeating the cycle by laying more eggs. Because the female lays eggs for 30 days populations are always overlapping and can double in size in 10 days or less.
