Bug FAQCommon issid planthopper
Issus coleoptratus · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Issidae
Issus coleoptratus is a small planthopper about half a centimeter long (5.5 to 7 mm). Adults appear from late spring to mid-autumn and live on the leaves of many common trees and shrubs.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its body colour ranges from light brown and olive to almost black, with a dark fore-head that often has lighter spots.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It measures between 5.5 and 7.0 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives on shrubbery and foliage of various woody plants, especially in mixed forests, forest edges and parks.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds on the sap (phloem) of trees such as lime, oak, maple, birch, elm and hazel.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation each year, and the nymphs overwinter on ivy, privet, juniper and yew.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults can be seen from May through mid-October, depending on location.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is common in the western Palearctic, the Near East and North Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It looks very similar to the rarer Issus muscaeformis.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Minnesota.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in North America; introduced in United States; introduced in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
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Questions people ask
When are adult Issus coleoptratus visible?
Adults are present from May until mid-October, varying with region.
Source: Wikipedia
What do these planthoppers eat?
They suck sap from the phloem of many trees, including lime, oak, maple, birch, elm and hazel.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find Issus coleoptratus?
They live on the leaves of shrubs and trees in mixed forests, forest edges and parks.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issus_coleoptratus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.