Privet leafhopper

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Privet leafhopper, also called cherry leafhopper, is an adventive, medium-sized, typical leafhopper. It is native to Europe and has been accidentally introduced into the UK, Australia, and North America. It was first recorded in Connecticut in 1918, and it was often misidentified or described as a synonym. Though common, it is frequently overlooked due to its similarity to several native species and its remarkable mimicry of the leaf buds on its host plants. It is now well established in North America. In the United States it occurs east of the Great Plains, west of the Rocky Mountains, and around major metropolitan areas in between. In southern Canada it occurs in Quebec and Ontario in the east and in British Columbia in the west.

Privet leafhopper is found on a wide range of deciduous trees and shrubs. It is an agricultural pest only in the orchards of sweet cherry (Prunus avium), where it is a vector of X-Disease (aka cherry buckskin). It is often found in urban areas on ornamental fruit trees and shrubs, where it does little damage and goes unnoticed. Adults are active from mid-April through October.

Adults are robust and ¼″ to 5⁄16″ (6.5 to 8.0 mm) in length. They are said to mimic the appearance of leaf buds on the host tree, making them difficult to detect. The upper side is dull yellowish or yellowish brown with minute, round, black dots, and it is sometimes tinged reddish. The underside is black with a broad, highly contrasting, white or yellow band across the abdomen.

The wings (hemelytra) are broad, opaque, and expanded (flared) at the tip.

The top of the head (vertex) is flat and 1.5 to 2 times wider between the eyes than its length in the middle. The front margin of the vertex is sharp, and the vertex is acutely angled with the front of the head and the face. The face is almost as wide as long. It is yellow with two parallel black bands on the upper part of the face (frons) that sometimes fuse together.

Size

Total length: ¼″ to 5⁄16″ (6.5 to 8.0 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

Ecology

Season

One generation per year: Mid-April through October

Behavior

Life Cycle

Larva Food/Hosts

Adult Food

Distribution

Sources

30, 82, 83.

Fieberiella florii (Stål, 1864) in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. Accessed 3/23/2026.