The Rice Blue Leafhopper (Empoascanara maculifrons)
Scientific Name:
Typhlocyba maculifrons Misra or Empoascanara maculifrons
Order:
Hemiptera
Family:
Cicadellidae
Distribution:
Throughout India, Bangladesh and South-cast Asia.
Host:
Rice, sorghum, finger millet (ragi), maize, sugarcane and wild grasses,
It is a small bluish insect having a yellowish vertex with a black patch and a black spot in the middle of the pronotum. The adults measure 1.9 to 2.5 mm in length.
Life-cycle:
The activity of this pest is noticed throughout the year. First it attacks the paddy in the nurseries and then shift to the crop in field. The females deposit eggs in batches of 2, 3 or 4 by lacerating the surface of leaf sheath or the upper midrib of leaf blade. A female lays on an average 48 eggs during her life span of 45-50 days. The incubation period is 6-12 days. On emergence, the young nymphs start feeding inside the leaf sheath. Before reaching maturity in 11-20 days, the nymphs moult five times. The total life-cycle occupies about 19-32 days.
Damage:
Both nymphs and adults suck cell sap from the leaves resulting in whitish waxy lines. In case of severe damage, the leaves wither away and the plants may die particularly when the attack is in nursery plantings. It is not known to be a vector of any virus disease in rice,
Control:
Same as mentioned under 'Brown Plant hopper' (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens.
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