Two strains of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ (onion yellows phytoplasma: OYP and Cryptotaenia japonica witches’ broom phytoplasma: CJWP) were detected by PCR from the nonvector leafhopper (Nephotettix cincticeps) that had fed on phytoplasma-infected plants or had been injected with one of the phytoplasmas. In all experiments, each phytoplasma was detected from the mid-gut, abdomen, thorax, head and salivary glands of insects after acquisition feeding or injection. However, neither phytoplasma was transmitted after inoculation feeding. This report is the first that phytoplasmas can pass through the mid-gut wall and reach the salivary glands of a nonvector leafhopper that had fed on phytoplasma-infected plants.