[2] Every year millions of dollars are lost from reduced crop yields and on pest management.
[11] Cold temperatures, major precipitation, and unsuitable environmental conditions are factors that will stop migration to continue more north.
[10] Adults overwinter on hosts in the pine and mixed hardwood forests along the Gulf of Mexico and in the Southern United States.
[12] Eastern Texas and Oklahoma, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, have documented populations.
[12] Before migrating back to their summer range they change their hosts to herbaceous legumes then to new spring foliage of deciduous trees.
[9] The remaining individuals will reside in fields, woodlands, scrublands, waste places, and parks.
[17] Empoasca fabae arrives back to their summer ranges during April or early May depending on the location.
[21] The visually descriptive term hopperburn is used for a distinct type of damage on plants by E. fabae's feeding on its hosts.
[7] As a plant's infestation increases, its leaves cup downward, and they start to turn from green to yellow.
[3] In some heavily infested fields up to 75% of the yield is lost, it depends on what stage of development the plants are in.
[11] Research has indicated that over the last 62 years that they have been arriving back to their summer range earlier by ten days.
[24] Usually, crop detection of E. fabae is too late as hopperburn is the first visual symptom of a major infestation.
[21] Regular crop inspections with a sweep net are essential to help reduce massive economic losses.
[1] Currently, the only effective method that exists for controlling E. fabae's infestations is the heavy application of insecticides.
[14] Research is indicating the possibility of being able to control populations by increasing E. fabae's natural enemies as part of pest management plan.
[15] Research has shown that natural resistance and pesticide use are just as effective, but neither is capable to fully contain populations.
[26] To create more effective management programs and reduce pesticide use it is essential to understand their dispersion, temporal and spatial patterns.