In the world of insects, few are as fascinating as the planthopper. It’s not the adult that first catches our attention, but rather its nymph stage. These tiny creatures, often with bizarre appearances and behaviors, are unbelievable. Let’s get into the intriguing world of planthoppers, exploring their nymphs, as well as the mysteries they hold.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder: Fulgoromorpha
They are small
Planthoppers are a variety of small jumping bugs that belong to the Fulgoroidea superfamily, which is part of the Hemiptera order. These species are known to hop away quickly when they feel threatened, similar to grasshoppers.
There are around 12,500 types of planthoppers, and each has its own unique features and behaviors. They stand out because of their strange-shaped heads, which can be pointed or angled. Their antennae are below their eyes on the sides and their wings come in different sizes and shapes. Some species have a wedge-shaped, flat body, while others are longer and slimmer. Some have big wings like small moths or grasshoppers, while others hardly have visible wings at all.

Planthoppers also come in a variety of colors, from greens, gray, beige, and browns for blending in with plants, to more surprising colors like pink, blue, and teal. They also have different sizes. The largest planthopper species can be at least 114 mm in length, while the smallest are less than 2 mm long
People often confuse planthoppers with other types of hoppers, like treehoppers, leafhoppers, and spittlebugs/froghoppers. But you can tell them apart by looking at their features: Planthoppers have a big, shieldlike part just behind their head that covers their abdomen. Treehoppers have a similar shield but extends backward. Leafhoppers have rows of small spines on their hind legs, and spittlebugs/froghoppers have stout spines on their hind legs.
Planthopper nymphs are coated in wax
The nymphs of these insects are cool species with special tricks to stay safe. You can often find them in big groups. All are covered in a thick, fluffy layer that looks like white cotton. They make this fluff from special glands on their bodies.
These nymphs have different kinds of tails that stick out. Some have tails that are like pipe cleaners to cover their bodies and keep water away while others have fluffy tails like feathers to help them fly more slowly. Some have tails like antennas that trick predators into attacking the wrong end, so the nymph can get away in the opposite direction. They might even walk backward to make the trick work better.
These little nymphs are super tiny, sometimes as small as a wrinkle on your thumb. They move fast and purposefully. What’s fascinating is that planthopper nymphs have a cool jumping trick. They’ve got special gears on the insides of their hind legs, made from the same stuff as their hard shell. These gears help them coordinate their movements, letting them jump with amazing accuracy and power.
This ability is very important for their defense and survival. It allows them to speed up very quickly, reaching a force equivalent to 400 to 500 times the gravity force in just 2 milliseconds. This ensures they move in a straight line without swerving to the side. When these nymphs grow up, they don’t have this gear feature anymore.
Habitat
Planthoppers are found all over the world, but they’re especially diverse in Africa and South America, where there are about 12,000 different types across 20 families. Some families are only found in specific regions. For example, Eurybrachidae and Meenoplidae are found only in the Old World, and Tettigometridae are found in the Afrotropical and Palearctic regions.
In North America, there are 13 families, including some noteworthy species like the green Acanaloniids and the invasive spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula. In Asia, the brown planthopper is the most common species. In Australia and New Zealand, planthoppers can live in many different climates. For instance, the green planthopper, Siphanta acuta, has bright green, leaf-like wings.
The insects are usually found close to the plants they eat. You’ll find them the most in stable environments, like wet prairies or wetlands. Many species do well in wetter years and decrease in numbers after a drought.
Diet
Planthoppers are tiny jumping bugs that drink plant juice. They have special mouthparts for piercing and sucking sap from plants. The sap is rich in sugars, amino acids, and inorganic ions. Some eat various plants, like herbs, shrubs, and trees. Others only eat certain plants, such as rice, oats, wheat, or grasses. The planthopper nymphs live underground or under tree bark, feeding on roots or fungus.
These bugs have various predators like spiders, wolf spiders, predatory bugs, frogs, and ground beetles. They are also eaten by the parasitic larvae of the planthopper parasite moth Epipyropidae. These predators are essential for keeping planthopper numbers in check.
They are bad for plants
Planthoppers are not dangerous to humans and are generally not seen as major pests. While their direct feeding generally doesn’t hurt most ornamental plants, they produce a sugary substance called honeydew, which can cause the growth of sooty molds. However, some types of planthoppers can be harmful, especially in large groups.
One troublesome bug is the small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus). It consumes crops like oats, barley, rice, and wheat, and spreads a virus that causes rice stripe disease. Their eggs can also block the plant’s water and food channels. Another pesky bug is the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens), which harms rice crops in different places around the world.
When feeding crops, these insects can make them turn yellow and get moldy in small numbers, and dry up and turn brown when there are more bugs. This is called “hopper burn.” Some types of these bugs can also spread viruses or other pathogens from one plant to another, which can make plants and crops sick.
The good news is that dealing with planthoppers is usually pretty straightforward. You can keep their numbers in check in a few different ways. Keep an eye out early on to catch them before they become a big problem. You can use things like special soap that kills insects, or use insecticides if needed. Also, there are ways to manage them that don’t involve chemicals, like covering your plants or using organic insecticidal soap.
Life cycle
These hoppers go through three stages in their life cycle: egg, nymph, and adult. Females lay eggs either alone or in groups, usually on the host plant. Some species protect their eggs with a waxy coating.
When the egg hatches, the planthopper becomes a nymph and starts eating. It grows through four or five stages, each one bigger than the last. After the final growth stage, it becomes an adult with wings, ready to mate and reproduce. Usually, adults have 1 to 3 generations per year. But some tropical delphacids can have as many as 12 generations per year.
Different planthopper species have varying lifespans. For example, the small brown planthopper lives for about 18 to 30 days on average while the adult green planthopper and the mango planthopper live for around 2 months. The citrus flatid planthopper survives the winter as eggs, hatching begins in early March in the Weslaco, Texas area. The first adults in the field were observed 69 days after hatching. The lifespan of these adults is several weeks.