Green Leafhopper: The Small Insect That Spreads Tungro

Across the country, the green leafhopper is one of the five major rice insect pests. The sap feeding alone rarely ruins a crop. The virus it carries does the worse harm.

How to Identify Green Leafhopper

Tap the hills or sweep the canopy with a net. A small green insect that jumps or runs sideways is probably a green leafhopper. Check the base of the leaf sheath too, where the pale eggs sit. If the plants are yellow and stunted, do not blame the insect alone. Tungro, nitrogen shortage and iron toxicity can look the same, so compare with our page on rice tungro.

• Small green wedge shaped insects jump or run sideways when you disturb the hills.
• Plants are stunted and lack vigor, and tillers are fewer than they should be.
• Leaves yellow or orange and may wither in heavy attacks, and the plant can dry out.
• Pale, white to yellow eggs sit inside the leaf sheaths or along the midrib.
• Insects crowd under a light trap at night, which is how technicians monitor them.

How Green Leafhopper Hurts Your Palay

Both nymphs and adults pull sap out of the plant with needle like mouthparts. This reduces vigor and the number of productive tillers. In heavy cases the plant withers or dries completely.

The bigger loss comes from tungro. The sources we read give no percent loss and no numeric threshold for the insect, so we state none. What they do say is important: in an area without a tungro source, insecticides are not needed. Even where tungro is present, a spray often cannot prevent or reduce the infection.

How to Control Green Leafhopper

1. Plant resistant varieties. Leafhopper and tungro resistance is the first line of defense.
2. Synchronize planting with your neighbors and avoid planting at the peak of leafhopper activity shown by past records.
3. Reduce the number of rice crops per year, and rotate with a non rice crop where you can.
4. Transplant older seedlings, more than three weeks old, and plant early.
5. Use the right amount of nitrogen. Too much invites outbreaks, so follow the leaf color chart.
6. Remove weeds, and use a light trap to watch the numbers. Spiders, dragonflies and mirid bugs feed on the insects, so spare them. The brown planthopper page explains why.

When a Spray Makes Sense

Do not spray in areas without a tungro source. Where tungro is present, an insecticide often cannot prevent infection. Leave the natural enemies alone and ask a technician before you decide.

Active Ingredients on Philippine Labels

The table stops at the ten best. 32 more on Philippine labels for it are older or broad chemistry. The Pest Finder in anee.io lists every one, crop by crop, with the products sold here.

Resistance. Green leafhoppers in East Asia resist many organophosphates and carbamates after decades of use. If an old product stops working, switch to group 4A, 9B or 4E, and do not repeat one group in a crop.

Keep It Out Next Season

• Plant a tungro resistant or leafhopper resistant variety where tungro has struck before.
• Plant at the same time across the barangay, and avoid the weeks when leafhoppers peaked in past seasons.
• Transplant seedlings older than three weeks, and destroy stubble, ratoons and volunteer rice after harvest.
• Use the right nitrogen rate, guided by the leaf color chart. Too much nitrogen invites outbreaks.
• Keep weeds down, and run a light trap to see when the numbers rise.

Natural Enemies and Biological Help

• Spiders, dragonflies, damselflies and mirid bugs eat leafhoppers. Avoid early sprays so they stay.
• Ducks in the paddy once the plants are well rooted eat leafhoppers along with planthoppers.

Not Sure What You Are Seeing?

Take a clear photo of the insect, the damage and the whole plant, then ask Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io, in Tagalog or English. Anee tells you what it most likely is and what to do at the age of your crop. You can also put your scouting days on the cropping calendar, so the team knows when to walk the field.

Questions Farmers Ask About Green Leafhopper