Beet leafhoppers are polyphagous generalists which means that they are able to feed on various different types of host (biology) plants. The fact that these insects migrate during the spring and summer time to cultivated fields also means that they show a lot of variation in their host plant choices by season: feeding on desert weeds in the winter and feeding on cultivated fields in the summer. They also show incredible variation in food choices between populations in different states, and these choices may change depending on host plant diversity, availability, defenses, etc. In one study on host plant preferences of beet leafhoppers from California and New Mexico, researchers found that beet leafhoppers from California preferred to feed on sugar beet plants while those from New Mexico preferred to feed on kochia, Russian thistle and redwood pigweed plants. The study also found differences in short term and long term feeding preferences where both kinds of leaf hoppers initially settled on beet plants (when observed over a period of 2 days) and later moved to their preferred choices (when observed over 20 days). Despite these differences, both species chose beet plants for laying eggs.