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Sticker of Three-cornered alfalfa hopper
Bug card No. 4358 of 4,939

Three-cornered alfalfa hopper

Spissistilus festinus
Name means: “its back shield has three corners, and it is a pest of alfalfa”
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The three-cornered alfalfa hopper is a tiny bright green treehopper. Its back is covered by a big shield that reaches all the way to its tail. Seen from the front, the shield has three pointy corners, like a little tent.

Lives in
From Canada to the West Indies, most of all in the southern United States, in fields
Length
6 to 7 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in)
Top speed
about 0.94 km/h (0.58 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Farmers do not like it, because it hurts their crops and grapevines.
What does it eat?
It pokes its sharp, straw-like mouth into stems and sips the sap. It likes alfalfa, peanuts and soybeans best.
For real!Photo of Three-cornered alfalfa hopper
Picture by Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN, United States. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Three-cornered alfalfa hopper about 7 mm long (0.28 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 3.8 secondsmoves 37 times its own body length every second

How big is Three-cornered alfalfa hopper compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

When it is in danger, it squeezes out a little drop from its tail end and hurries to the other side of the stem.

2

A mother can lay more than 220 eggs. She tucks them into slits she cuts in plant stems.

3

Alive it is light green, but after it dies it turns orange or straw coloured.

4

It has been seen feeding on plants from more than 171 different groups.

5

Lacewing larvae and ladybirds hunt it, so they help farmers keep it in check.

you asked

Most asked questions about Three-cornered alfalfa hopper

?Is the three-cornered alfalfa hopper dangerous?

Not to people. It only harms plants by sucking sap and cutting slits in stems.

?How big is the three-cornered alfalfa hopper?

About 6 to 7 millimetres long, smaller than your little fingernail.

?Why is it called three-cornered?

Because the shield on its back has three corners, one on top and one on each shoulder.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Spissistilus festinus
Named by
Say, 1830
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Membracidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Membracidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Spissistilus festinus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN, United States. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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