Head Capsule Width and Population Densities of Overwintering Nymphal Stages of the Green Rice Leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps Uhler (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)
This study was conducted to investigate specific stages and distribution of overwintering nymphs of green rice leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps by measuring head capsule width. The nymphal head capsule width of the 1st instar to the 5th instar was 0.381, 0.502, 0.673, 0.979 and 1.128 ㎜, respectively. Its coefficient variation was 5.3, 4.0, 3.0, 4.5 and 5.3%, respectively. Growth ratio of each instar was not significantly different among 2nd to 4th instars as 1.31 to 1.34, but for the 5th instar it decreased as 1.28. The logarithm of the nymphal head capsule width was regressed as a function of the stage number of insects, resulting in LogY = 1.4627 + 0.1192X (r² = 0.9993). Also fitness to the Dyar’s law for the nymphal head capsule width of each instar was 98% or over and the Dyar’s constant (K) was 1.316. The occurrence of N. cincticeps was maximum at the end of January with 195 individuals/0.25 ㎡. The most abundant instar in the overwintering N. cincticeps population was 4th instar accounting for over 90%. Population of the 5th instar began to increase from mid-March, and adults began to occur in early April.