🦠 Leafhopper

A leafhopper is a small jumping insect only a few millimetres long. It sits on leaves and sucks plant sap. When there are many leafhoppers, leaves turn yellow and dry, and the crop suffers.

The main harm from leafhoppers is that they carry vine diseases. One is Pierce’s disease, which kills the vine. It is caused by a bacterium and spread by leafhopper species called sharpshooters. Another is flavescence dorée, where leaves yellow and curl and bunches dry out. It is spread by the American grapevine leafhopper.

Controlling leafhoppers is hard. Growers monitor insect numbers with sticky traps, remove infected vines and use approved protection products. Beneficial insects help too.

The leafhopper is among the pests of grapevines. Measures against it are often taken at national level to stop the disease. It is a reminder that everything in a vineyard is connected: insects, diseases and the health of the vine.