U58.^i \ 
POTATO LEAFHOPPER 
( Empoasca fabae (Harr.)) 
Injury and Life History 
The potato leafhopper is an injurious pest of potato and beans in 
the Eastern States. It also attacks many other plants. Both the 
young forms, known as nymphs, and the adults feed upon the under 
surface of the leaves by sucking the plant juices. The adidts fly when 
disturbed and the tiny nymphs scamper for cover, traveling sidewise. 
Besides sucking the plant juices, this leafhopper transmits to the 
plant a substance that causes a disease condition known as hopper- 
burn. The first symptom of this disease is a triangular brown spot 
at the tips of the leaflets. Later the entire margins may curl upward 
and turn brown as though scorched. Badly affected plants die 
early and the yield of potatoes is reduced. 
In Florida and other Gulf States the leafhopper breeds throughout 
the year. In the North the adults appear in April or May. Since 
they have never been found there in the winter, they probably migrate 
from the South. Early in June they move in large numbers to potato 
fields and deposit eggs in the tissue of the plants. In about a week 
these eggs hatch into wingless nymphs. The nymphs pass through 
five stages and become winged adults in 10 to 14 days. They begin 
laying eggs 5 or 6 days later. The period from egg to adult is about 
1 month. 
Control 
Dust the foliage thoroughly with a 3-percent DDT dust. 
If you prefer a spray to a dust, use 2 level tablespoonfuls of 50- 
percent DDT wettable powder or 2 level teaspoonfuls of 25-percent 
DDT emulsion concentrate per gallon of water. Apply with a good 
sprayer that throws a fine mist. To make 100 gallons of spray use 
either 2 pounds of the 50-percent wettable powder or 2 pints of the 
25-percent DDT emulsion concentrate. If spray is to he used for 
disease control, add either of these DDT preparations to the fungi- 
cidal spray rather than to water, and apply at once. 
Begin spraying or dusting when the insects first appear and repeat 
the treatment as often as necessary. 
CAUTION. — Insecticides are poisonous and should be handled with care. 
Store in a dry place where children and animals will not have access to them. 
16 - 20763-1 
PS. COMP. ZSOL 
U0IAR? 
fS 19 1951 
Issued April 1941 
Revised November 1950 U. S. Government Printing Office 
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. 
I ’rice 5 cents 
