Rhodo Soulmate

I noticed this engaging little chap on my one and only Rhododendron plant on the day after my lovely daughters (Jen) wedding (24th Sept). Funnily enough it is called the Rhododendron Leafhopper or Graphocephala fennahi.

I went away for a few days bird watching to recover from the festivities and stopped at Dysons nurseries near Sevenoaks in Kent. These nurseries are situated in the Great Comp gardens and are well worth a visit, especially later in the summer when the Salvias are in full bloom. It was here that I also noticed several of these same leafhoppers, and so I guess these little critters must be fairly common. Please go and check your Rhodos and let me know if you find any.

This unmistakable leafhopper was introduced from N.America and is now found on Rhododendron leaves all over southern Britain from June to October.

According to the RHS, this naughty little chap is a real pest and causes bud blast.
The symptoms are such that many rhododendron buds fail to open although they remain on the bush looking silvery. Later in spring they become covered with black 'bristles'. The leafhopper lays its eggs in slits in the flower buds and so provides a point of entry for the fungus Pycnostysanus azalae. All good gardeners only use non-chemical control and so the best way of removing the source of the infection is to pick off and dispose of the infected buds. Do not add them to the compost heap.

While I was busy observing this critter, I noticed it projecting missiles out of its rear end. Whether these were eggs or not I would be delighted know. However from the description above it sounds as though the egg laying process is rather more precise than the haphazard action I was witnessing.