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General Information

Common name: Brown planthopper, BPH
Scientific name: Nilaparvata lugens
Hemiptera:Delphacidae

Plant hosts

Rice, wild rice, and grasses

Distribution

Australia, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Damage

The adults and nymphs suck the plant sap of the leaf blades and leaf sheaths causing the yellowing of the plants. Hopper burn or a complete drying of the plants is observed when there is a very high population density of BPH. The feeding exposes the plants to fungal and bacterial infections. BPH transmit ragged stunt and grassy stunt viruses.

Description

Eggs are laid in masses of 8-16 eggs/mass. Some of the eggs are united near the base of the egg cap and others remain free. The egg cap is flat, secreted by the female adult. Eggs are found inserted in the midrib or leaf sheath and are whitish, crescent-shaped and 0.99 mm long and 0.2 mm wide. Egg incubation is 4 to 8 days depending on the temperature. Two distinct spots appear in an individual egg prior to hatching.

Nymphs are white and measure 0.91 mm long and 0.37 mm wide. The head is triangular with a narrow tip. The body is creamy white with a pale brown tinge. The nymphs molt five times. The young nymphs are white and turn brown in color when they mature. The fully developed nymph is 2.99 mm long and 1.25 mm wide. The older nymphs do not have black and white spots on their abdomen.

Adults are active at temperatures ranging from 10°C to 32°C. The female can lay 300 to 715 eggs in her lifetime. Both adult and nymph BPH produce honeydews, which are emitted from their bodies as a result of excessive plant sap secretion. BPH is usually more abundant in the dry season than in the wet season. It is commonly found in rainfed and irrigated fields during the reproductive stage of the rice plant.
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