Last week I wrote a short paragraph about garden fleahopper. The phone rang a few more times this week with folks telling me about seeing high numbers of this insect in peanut. I went to one of our research trials Wednesday and took some pictures of the insect and the damage for those who may not have seen them before. Adult garden fleahoppers come in three forms: short winged females, long winged females, and long winged males. As I wrote last week, the damage appears as stippling on the leaves, and it is similar to the damage we see from two spotted spider mites.
Spray decisions have been made based on several factors including insect population, extent of damage and maturity of the peanut crop. With no economic threshold for this insect we will continue to make treatment decisions on a field by field basis using what information and experience we have to guide us.