The froghopper Mahanarva indentata (Walker) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) is an economically important pest of sugarcane in Brazil. With the purpose of complementing various biological studies of the froghopper species associated with sugarcane, this research was developed to describe the morphology, and development of the eggs, nymphs and adults of M. indentata, as well as aspects of its reproductive biology and oviposition site preference. The study was conducted in a greenhouse of the Department of Agronomy, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV). Sugarcane plants of the cultivar, ‘RB867515’, at 60 days after planting were used to feed the insects. The information was obtained at 26 ± 2 °C, 70% ± 10% RH and 14:10 h L:D. Mean egg development lasted 36 days with 95% of egg viability. The nymphal phase with 5 instars lasted an average of 62 days with 65.84% survival. Adult males and females lived 12 and 20 days respectively. The durations of the pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 9.57 ± 0.80 days, 7.78 ± 1.14 days and 2.60 ± 0.57 days, respectively. Average fecundity was 38.2 eggs per female and total generation time (adult - egg) was 99 days. All adult females showed an oviposition preference for the abaxial surface of the sugarcane leaf and specifically for the basal portion of the leaf where 72% of the eggs were deposited. The newly acquired information on M. indentata reinforces the need to define differences between the various Mahanarva species related to their biology and management, since this is a very important pest of the sugarcane production in Brazil.