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A visit with Rex Cocroft, Assistant Professor of Biology
The tree-hopper’s life cycle and its relationship with its host plant
Topics:
host-plant
life_cycle
Tree-hoppers are intimately adapted to the host plant on which they live. “Their whole life cycle is timed to the progression of their plant,” explains Cocroft. In the fall they lay eggs in the bark; later, in the spring, the tree’s sap rising triggers the eggs to develop and hatch just as the leaves begin to emerge, providing the nymphs with new growth to eat.