Mexican Treehopper

Membracis mexicana · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Membracidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. It is a minor pest of avocado crops.

Source: Wikipedia

Mexican Treehopper
Photo: Matteo Cassella, CC BY-SA

Adults are black with yellow markings, while nymphs start black and later turn white with three black spots and a reddish belt separating the thorax and abdomen. The species ranges from California down through Central and South America to Colombia and Ecuador. Adults can cause minor damage to avocado crops.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Adults are black with yellow markings; nymphs begin black and later become white with three black dots and a reddish belt between thorax and abdomen.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

Adults are minor pests of avocado crops.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found from California through Colombia and Ecuador.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Adults feed on avocado crops and are considered minor pests.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its distribution extends from California to Colombia and Ecuador.

Source: Wikipedia

Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist

Questions people ask

What does the Mexican Treehopper look like?

Adults are black with yellow markings; nymphs start black and later become white with three black spots and a reddish belt between thorax and abdomen.

Source: Wikipedia

Where can I find Mexican Treehoppers?

They are distributed from California down through Colombia and Ecuador.

Source: Wikipedia

Do they damage crops?

Yes, adults are minor pests of avocado crops.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Membracidae)

Keeled TreehopperKeeled TreehopperEntylia carinataBuffalo TreehopperBuffalo TreehopperStictocephala bisoniaDamages trees, gardens or cropsHorned TreehopperHorned TreehopperCentrotus cornutusOak TreehopperOak TreehopperPlatycotis vittataThree-cornered Alfalfa HopperThree-cornered Alfalfa HopperSpissistilus festinusDamages trees, gardens or cropsLantana treehopperLantana treehopperAconophora compressaDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membracis_mexicana

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.