Field Guide

Planthoppers are a large and diverse group of small hopping bugs. They tend to be less abundant than other types of hoppers.

Treehoppers can resemble thorns, bark, weird plant bumps, or tiny leaves. If you can recognize one of these as an insect, you're doing well!

Grayish, small, flattened, and rectangular, lace bugs have a lacy network of ridges on the wings and body. They suck nutrients from foliage with their beaks. The resulting pale spots on leaves might be the first sign of their presence.

The diamondback spittlebug is common in weedy areas. The larvae live protected in spitty masses of foam. The adults are drab and well camouflaged, so few people notice them.

The citrus flatid planthopper has a waxy coating and can look gray or tan. It eats a wide variety of plants.

The spiny assassin bug is one of nearly 200 species of assassin bugs in North America. It walks, hops, and flies to capture its insect prey.

The pale green assassin bug, Zelus luridus, is one of nearly 200 species of assassin bugs in North America. Like other assassin bugs, it is a predator that captures and eats other insects.

Plant bugs, or mirids, are a huge family of true bugs. They are often overlooked — except by gardeners and farmers. Most mirids eat plants, and some are agricultural pests. As a group, they’re an important food source for birds and other insectivores.

Hackberry psyllids are a genus of tiny, planthopper-like bugs. As larvae, they develop within the leaves, twigs, buds, or bark of hackberry trees. The trees form warty galls in response to their presence. In the fall, tiny adult hackberry psyllids cling to window screens.