Two-horned treehopper

(Stictocephala diceros)

Conservation Status

two-horned treehopper
Photo by Alfredo Colon
IUCN Red List

not listed

 
NatureServe

not listed

 
Minnesota

not listed

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Description

Two-horned treehopper is a buffalo treehopper. It is a small jumping insect, a medium-sized treehopper. It occurs in the northern half of the eastern United States and in adjacent Canadian provinces. It is common in the northeast but uncommon in Minnesota, where it is at the western extent of its range. Its primary host is American elderberry but it has been found on many other plants.

Adults are small, 516 to (8 to 9 mm) in length. The body is dark brown. When viewed from the side it is broadly rounded and high. When viewed from above it is triangular.

The exoskeletal plate covering the thorax (pronotum) is light brown or yellowish-brown and is densely covered with erect hairs. It is very long, extending back over the abdomen and completely concealing the triangular plate between the wing bases (scutellum). It is moderately arched, highest just before the middle. The forward corners (humeral angles) of the pronotum are extended sharply outward and upward into stout points (suprahumeral horns), suggesting the horns of a buffalo. The area in front of the horns (metopidium) is vertical and flat. There is a sharp, longitudinal ridge (carina) that extends over more than half of the pronotum, merging with a raised triangular area between the horns. There is a dark spot on each side of the pronotum below the horn, and another dark spot above near the rear.

The wings are held roof-like over the body when at rest. The first radial vein (R1) is short and is close to the start of the second radial vein (R2+3+4+5).

Size

Total length: 516 to (8 to 9 mm)

Similar Species

 

Habitat

 

Ecology

Season

Early August to late September (CCESR)

Behavior

 

Life Cycle

 

Nymph Food

Mostly American elderberry but possibly many other plants

Adult Food

Mostly American elderberry but possibly many other plants

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 9/26/2025).

9/26/2025    
     

Occurrence

 

Taxonomy

Order

Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids, and allies)

Suborder

Auchenorrhyncha (true hoppers)

Infraorder

Cicadomorpha (spittlebugs, cicadas, leafhoppers and treehoppers)

Superfamily

Membracoidea (leafhoppers and treehoppers)

Family

Membracidae (typical treehoppers)

Subfamily

Smiliinae

Tribe

Ceresini (buffalo treehoppers and allies)

Genus

Stictocephala

 

This species was formerly classified as Ceresa diceros. A revision of the tribe Ceresini moved many Ceresa species into other new or existing genera.

Subordinate Taxa

 

Synonyms

Ceresa diceros

Common Names

two-horned treehopper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

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Alfredo Colon

two-horned treehopper

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Alfredo Colon
August 2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

two-horned treehopper

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