 Beet leafhopper adult Beet Leafhopper These gray-green, wedge-shaped insects are about 3 mm long. The beet leafhopper or “white fly” is the vector of curly top virus to beans and sugarbeets. Direct feeding damage is not of economic importance. This leafhopper overwinters on Russian thistle and other plants in weedy or waste areas and rangeland. In late spring the leafhopper migrates long distances to summer host plants, transmitting curly top virus to all susceptible crops. Host plants: sugarbeets, Russian thistle, tomatoes, povertyweed, lambsquarters, beans, filaree, melons, mustard, nightshade, squash.
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