Thanks so much for the identification and the advice as well as the compliment Moni! I was hoping they were good bugs. Time for battle!
Keeled treehopper by: Moni
Justin
Great photos!
You do have the nymph or young stages as well as the adult Keeled treehopper.
They live on and eat plants in the Solanaceae family...eggplant, tomato, potato.
The nymphs or young of the Keeled tree hopper are spiny as you show in your photos.
This treehopper is a pest in southern California and south of there, besides in HI. The nymphs and adults suck the juices out of tomato plants, so you may need to control them to prevent damage or killing of your plants.
Best control is insecticidal soap on the nymphs, but if you have adults you will need to spray with Neem.
One other item commonly mentioned with this insect is that there are usually ants around them. The ants feed on the "honeydew" or liquid droppings of the treehopper.
