Cicadella viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cicadella viridis is a large and distinctive leafhopper that can be found throughout Britain and Ireland. It can be very numerous where it occurs.
Description & Identification
Adults are typically 6—8mm long; females are distinctly larger than males.
As with all leafhoppers, the hind tibiae have one to three rows of spines running along the entire length. C. viridis is easily recognised in the field; the only species with which it could be confused is C. lasiocarpae, which is very much rarer and confined to fens and bogs in western Britain and Ireland.
The forewings of females are bright turquoise
green, but those of the male are much darker blue-purple
and may even be blackish, although the green coloration is
retained on the pronotum. The background colour of the
head and face is yellow, overlain with varying amounts of
black markings.
(Harkin & Stewart 2019)
Biology & Ecology
Cicadella viridis is common in damp and wet habitats
throughout Britain and Ireland. It can reach particularly high
densities in fens, bogs, wet meadows and pastures, and
around pond, lake and ditch margins. Its host plants are
sedges and rushes, particularly in the genus Juncus.
Females lay eggs singly or in groups inside the plant tissue in
the autumn; nymphs emerge the following spring. Nymphs
moults five times before emerging as adults. Adults can be
found between June and September.
Classification
Synonymy
Acopsis viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Tettigella viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Amblycephalus viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Iassus viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Neokolla viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cicadella riridis Linnaeus, 1758
Cicada viridis Linnaeus, 1758
Cercopis viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Amblycephalus viridis viridis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cicadella viridis arundinis (Germar, 1821)
Tettigella arundinis (Germar, 1821)
Tettigonia arundinis Germar, 1821
Tettigonia melanchloa Walker, 1851
Tettigonia flavicatella Graaf, 1854
Tettigonia flaviscutellata (Graaf, 1854)
Cicadella viridis concolor (Haupt, 1912)
Tettigonella concolor Haupt, 1912
Tettigella viridis suffusa Salmon, 1954
Tettigella viridis suffusa Salmon, 1954
Common Names (full list)
Source: Taxon list of Auchenorrhyncha from Germany compiled in the context of the GBOL project
Source: Dyntaxa. Svensk taxonomisk databas
Source: TAXREF
Source: TAXREF
Source: Belgian Species List
Source: Checklist Dutch Species Register - Nederlands Soortenregister
Source: National Checklist of all species occurring in Denmark
Source: National Checklist of all species occurring in Denmark
Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species - United States (Contiguous) (ver.2.0, 2022)
Additional Images
Images provided by GBIF data providers. We cannot verify that identifications are correct.
Worldwide Distribution
UK Status: Present
Widespread and common in damp grassland and marshy areas throughout the UK.
Vector Status
As with all froghoppers and some of the larger leafhoppers, C. viridis feeds on the liquid contents of the xylem vessels of its host plants. As such, it is a potential vector of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa which has caused the death of many olive trees in southern Europe, although this disease has not been detected in the UK. (Harkin & Stewart 2019)
Plant Diseases
Phytoplasmas
Mikec, I., Krizanac, I., Budinscak, Z., Seruga Music, M., Krajacic, M., Skoric, D. 2009. Phytoplasma and their potential vector in vineyards of indigenous croatian varieties. In: Abstract Book of 15th Meeting of the International Council for the Study of Virus and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine, 2006
Carraro, L., Ferrini, F., Martini, M., Ermacora, P., Loi, N. 2008. A serious epidemic of Stolbur on Celery. Journal of Plant Pathology, 90(1): 131-135
Riedle-Bauer, M., Tiefenbrunner, W., Otreba, J., Hanak, K., Schildberger, B., Regner, F. 2006. Epidemiological observations on Bois noir in Austrian vineyards. Mitteilungen Klosterrneuburg, 56: 166–170
* Citations of Phytoplasma occurrance in Cicadella viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) have been exctracted from the database of Hemiptera-Phytoplasma-Plant (HPP) biological interactions worldwide (Valeria Trivellone. (2019). Hemiptera-Phytoplasma-Plant dataset (v1.2) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2532738).
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