Insect identification > Homoptera > Leafhoppers and Treehoppers > Rose leafhoppers

Rose leafhoppers

The rose leafhopper (Typhlocyba rosae L.). - This European insect is now present practically everywhere in the United States and in parts of Canada. It is a general feeder and will probably attack most plants of the family Rosaceae but appears to be particularly injurious to the rose and apple. The adult is almost as large as the apple leafhopper and is creamy white to light yellow.

It lays its eggs during the fall in the bark of rose bushes, apple trees, berry canes and other plants and there they remain until spring, when they hatch. The nymphs suck the sap from the underside of the leaves of the plants, producing a mottled appearance, and as the injury increases the leaves may turn yellow and dry up, but they do not curl.

There are two generations of this insect a year, the eggs for the second generation being laid in July. Most of the wintering eggs are deposited in rose stems.