Blunt-nosed leafhopper

Notes: This is a ‘piercing-sucking’ insect in the manner in which it feeds, and most of the feeding is done throughout the nymphal stages, when they are wingless (only the adults have wings). The nymphs (see photos below) need to molt a total of five times before becoming adults, and this development period lasts about one month (essentially all of June and sometimes into the early part of July for some Maine locations). In very high numbers (100 to 200 per 25 sweeps), leafhoppers can drain the vines significantly (robbing the stems of water and sugar), but most importantly, it is a known carrier of the plant phytoplasm (virus-like pathogen) known as False Blossom, which threatened the entire cranberry industry nationwide in the early 1900s and was so bad in New Jersey that it is said to have nearly ended their cranberry industry there altogether.  Pockets of False Blossom are still found in wild bogs on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and it was recently found in New Jersey again, to a larger extent than what was expected when the sampling and testing was done.