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Soybeans: Potato Leafhopper (PLH)
Excerpt from Agronomy Guide for Field Crops (Chapter 4) Order OMAFRA Publication 811: Agronomy Guide for Field CropsTable of Contents
DescriptionAdults are pale-green, wedge-shaped, winged insects about 3 mm long with piercing and sucking mouth parts. Adults are broadest towards the head, the body tapering evenly to the wing tips. They have a row of six rounded, white spots behind their head. Nymphs are smaller than adults and are wingless.
Plate 56. Potato leafhoppers are pale green, wedge-shaped, winged insects. Immature nymphs are smaller and wingless. Life HistoryPLH does not overwinter in Ontario. Leafhoppers generally migrate north every spring, carried along by southerly weather fronts that start in the Gulf of Mexico. Adults generally arrive by late spring, feeding first on alfalfa and other perennial legumes. PLH generally does not appear on beans until late June after alfalfa has been cut. Occasionally huge numbers of leafhoppers may arrive "overnight" from the south, resulting in a damaging population on seedling beans. Females lay their eggs in the main veins and petioles of the leaves. Development from egg to adult takes approximately 2-3 weeks.| Top of Page | DamagePLH feed by piercing plant tissue and sucking plant sap. While doing this, they damage the vascular cells, which blocks the veins, causing plant nutrients and products to accumulate in the leaf. This causes the leaves to curl and pucker, and eventually the leaf edges begin to scorch. These symptoms are called hopperburn. Border rows are affected first. Yield is lost before hopperburn is seen, so do not use hopperburn as a management guide. Leafhoppers tend to come into soybean and edible bean fields after neighbouring alfalfa fields are cut. The symptoms of potato leafhopper are commonly confused with herbicide injury problems, nutrient deficiency and drought stress. High-risk factors include hot, drier-than-normal seasons. Action ThresholdHigh PLH populations on hairy-leafed (pubescent) soybean varieties do not necessarily result in yield loss. On non-hairy soybean cultivars, use Table 4-19. PLH Thresholds for Edible Beans (Adults and Nymphs), as a guideline for thresholds. Note: These thresholds are for edible beans.
| Top of Page | Management StrategiesPLH generally do not cause significant injury to soybeans. Soybean varieties with high pubescence (hairiness) prevent the leafhoppers from feeding on the leaf tissue by creating a mechanical barrier, making it difficult for PLH to reach the leaf with their sucking mouthparts to feed. However, some varieties of soybeans, especially the food grade types, lack the hairs necessary to protect the plants against leafhoppers. | Top of Page | Updates on Soybeans: Potato Leafhopper| Top of Page | Related links...| Top of Page | For more information:Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300 Local: (519) 826-4047 E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca |
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