By Yucheng Wang and Dean Malvick et.al
The corn leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) has been detected again in Minnesota during the 2025 growing season. It was found in one corn field in Waseca County, where adults of the corn leafhopper were captured on yellow sticky traps placed on corn plants at the R5-R6 stage. We deployed yellow sticky traps from June through September, but adults were only captured in September. They can be found on both the adaxial (top) and abaxial (bottom) sides of corn leaves.
Adults generally have a light color, varying from yellow to white, with variable black spots on the abdomen. A key identifying feature is two large black spots on the head above the ocelli (eyes), each more than twice the diameter of the ocelli (Figure 1). This insect can transmit pathogens that cause stunting diseases in corn, leading to symptoms such as reduced growth, red or yellow leaf discoloration, and poor ear development.
Corn leafhopper infestation was first detected in Minnesota in late September 2024 in a corn plot on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus. Both detections of D. maidis in 2024 and 2025 occurred late in the growing season when corn plants were nearing harvest, posing minimal/no risk to the corn plants.
Source : umn.edu