The black planthopper is a small sap-sucking insect with dark brown wings dotted with clear, window-like patches. It lives across East and Southeast Asia and India and isn't known from the United States. Since about 2009 it has also become established in northern Italy.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 5/16 in (8 mm) long, with a wingspan of about 5/8–3/4 in (15–18 mm). The forewings are dark brown with a wavy band across the middle and irregular clear patches of various sizes. Males have a pointed abdomen tip; females have a rounded one.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- low mountains
- woodlands
- orchards and gardens (Italy)
- Range
- Native to China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and nearby countries. Introduced to Italy, where it has been found in Liguria, Tuscany, Veneto, Piedmont, and Lazio. It is not known from North America.
- Preferred conditions
- In its native range it lives on low mountains and tends to favor shady places.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults and suck sap from twigs and leaves of more than 60 kinds of plants in over 30 families. Crops it attacks include citrus, apple, mango, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
- Activity
- Adults fly and are most active around dusk. Nymphs can make short hops to nearby plants.
- Overwintering
- Females lay rows of eggs in young shoots, and the eggs spend the winter there and hatch in spring. In Italy there is one generation a year.
Life cycle
- Larva
- Nymphs are whitish with dark brown markings and carry a fan of white waxy threads at the tail, like a tiny peacock. They pass through five nymph stages before becoming adults.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Threats
- Heavy feeding can curl and yellow leaves and kill twigs. Nymph wax and sticky can coat foliage. It is a crop pest in tropical and subtropical Asia, and Australia treats it as a biosecurity threat.
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