The
beet leafhopper (
Circulifer tenellus) is a species of
leafhopperLeafhopper is a common name applied to any species from the family Cicadellidae. Leafhoppers, colloquially known as "hoppers", are minute plant-feeding insects in the superfamily Membracoidea in the order Hemiptera...
with a longer, thinner build than most. It is found across much of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
and from the countries around the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
to
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
.
The
beet leafhopper (
Circulifer tenellus) is a species of
leafhopperLeafhopper is a common name applied to any species from the family Cicadellidae. Leafhoppers, colloquially known as "hoppers", are minute plant-feeding insects in the superfamily Membracoidea in the order Hemiptera...
with a longer, thinner build than most. It is found across much of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
and from the countries around the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
to
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
.
Disease
The beet leafhopper is the carrier of the dreaded
curly topCurly top is a disease, first noted in the United States in 1898, which strikes various types of plants, including tomato, chili pepper, eggplant, potatoes, and others, causing them to stop growing or producing fruit, often eventually dying...
virus. A single feeding from a beet leafhopper can infect a nightshade plant like
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
,
tomatoThe tomato is a herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that is typically cultivated for the purpose of harvesting its fruit for human consumption...
,
chili pepperChili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...
, or eggplant, infecting it and rendering it useless for agriculture.
Control
Aside from some
pesticideA pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest.A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substance intended for:- preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest....
s, the beet leafhopper can be managed by
companion plantingCompanion planting is the planting of different crops in close physical proximity , on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity.Although there is a wealth of information on its historic use,...
, it is repelled by
marigoldMarigold may refer to:Plants:* Marigold , Tagetes* Pot marigold, Calendula* Mexican marigold, Tagetes erecta* Tree marigold, Tithonia diversifolia* Desert marigold, Baileya multiradiata...
s, while both
petuniaPetunia is a trumpet shaped, widely-cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower derived its name from French, which took the word petun 'tobacco' from a Tupi-Guarani language. Most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids...
s and
PelargoniumPelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both genera are in...
geraniums act as trap crops, drawing them away.