Bug FAQThree-cornered Alfalfa Hopper
Spissistilus festinus · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Membracidae
Also called: Membracid bug, threecornered alfalfa treehopper
Source: Wikipedia
Adults are about 6-7 mm long and are light green when alive, turning orange-straw when dried. Males are noticeably smaller than females and have a red tint on the top of the pronotum. They live across Canada to the West Indies, most commonly in the southern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Live adults are light green; dried specimens look deep orange to straw coloured. Males are smaller than females and show a red tint on the dorsal pronotum.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 6-7 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They are a serious threat to the U.S. wine industry because they transmit grapevine red blotch virus. Their feeding and reproduction cause significant damage to many plant hosts, earning them pest status.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Research has examined using predators to control their populations in crops. Red-lipped green lacewing larvae can kill all life stages of this hopper.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found from Canada through the West Indies, especially in the southern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They feed on phloem sap using piercing-sucking mouthparts, probing petioles and shoots.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
They undergo incomplete metamorphosis: egg, nymph, then adult. Nymph development takes about 18-33 days, longer if temperatures differ from 30 °C.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Females mate 7 to 14 days after reaching adulthood. A female can lay over 220 eggs over a 38-day reproductive period, carrying 21 to 30 eggs at a time.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their range spans Canada to the West Indies, with the highest occurrence in the southern U.S.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 33 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell males from females?
Males are smaller and have a red tint on the top of the pronotum, while females lack this coloration.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are these hoppers found?
They occur from Canada to the West Indies, most commonly in the southern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Why are they a problem for vineyards?
They spread grapevine red blotch virus, which can damage grape crops and affect wine production.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Membracidae)
Keeled TreehopperEntylia carinata
Buffalo TreehopperStictocephala bisoniaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Horned TreehopperCentrotus cornutus
Oak TreehopperPlatycotis vittata
Mexican TreehopperMembracis mexicanaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Three-cornered Alfalfa HopperSpissistilus festinaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spissistilus_festinus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.