Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea)
Another common name for this leafhopper is Candystriped Leafhopper.
There are over 3,000 species of leafhoppers in North America. All are small jumping insects with one or more rows of small spines on the hind tibiae. Both nymphs and adults feed on sap of above-ground stems or leaves of plants and can be everywhere vascular plants grow. Several species are serious agricultural pests because of the damage they do to commercial crops. Some species also transmit plant pathogens such as viruses, mycoplasma-like organisms, or other microorganisms.
Leafhoppers have special sound-producing organs (tymbals) at the base of their abdomen; most leafhopper songs are too faint to be heard by humans without special amplifying equipment.
