Austroasca viridigrisea (Paoli)
The Vegetable Leafhopper
Caution
Many of the insects depicted on these pages are outwardly similar and you should not use photographs as the sole means of identification. These pages form part of a scientific key which will assist a trained entomologist to identify the species accurately.
Austroasca viridigrisea (Paoli 1936)
Common Name: Vegetable Leafhopper
Subfamily/Tribe: Typhlocybinae: Empoascini
Distribution: All states and territories of Australia, Lord Howe Island.
Economic Status: A pest of leafy vegetables in most parts of Australia. It also attacks beans, carrots, potato and non-irrigated tomatoes. It causes distortion to the leaves and stunting of new growth.
Notes: The white spotting on the vertex and front half of the pronotum enables this species to be fairly readily differentiated from other species of Austroasca in Australia. The cotton leafhopper Amrasca terraereginae also has white spotting on the head but also bears a brown (sometimes yellowish) spot on the tegmen which is lacking in A. viridigrisea.
