Whats eating alfalfa?
If unchecked, potato leafhopper can reduce alfalfa yield and quality and shorten stand life. Here are some tips to help protect your alfalfa from potato leafhopper. by Gary R. Nielsen and William 0. Lamp POTATO leafhopper may be the single most important alfalfa pest in the eastern and north central U.S. Leafhoppers injure alfalfa by sucking sap from stems and leaves and disrupting vital physiological processes. They are most damaging to the second and third alfalfa hay crops (in a four cut system and third and fourth in a five cut system). As its name implies, alfalfa is not the only crop plagued by this insect. It feeds and reproduces on more than 200 plants, including common crops like potatoes, peanuts and soybeans. Adult potato leafhoppers are small (1/8 inch long), greenish insects with wings. They fly readily when disturbed. Immature leafhoppers are called nymphs and look like wingless adults. Both feed on plant sap. Leafhoppers take about three weeks to develop from egg to adul
