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How to Identify and Control the Tea Green Leafhopper

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The small green leafhopper, also known as the floating dust hopper, is the most important pest of tea plants. It damages tea plants by having its nymphs and adults pierce and suck the sap of young shoots, buds and leaves, causing the buds and leaves to yellow and lose their green color, the leaf veins to turn red, and the leaf texture to become coarse and old. In severe cases, the leaf tips and margins become reddish-brown and scorched, the buds and leaves shrivel, growth stops, and they may even be completely scorched, as if burned by fire. When affected leaves are made into dry tea, the amount of broken fragments increases, the taste is bitter and astringent, and both yield and quality are seriously affected. The adult small green leafhopper is 3.5-4.0 mm long, pale green to yellow-green, with 2 small green spots in the middle of the top of the head, and the mesothoracic scutellum

The small green leafhopper, also known as the floating dust hopper, is the most important pest of tea plants. It damages tea plants by having its nymphs and adults pierce and suck the sap of young shoots, buds and leaves, causing the buds and leaves to yellow and lose their green color, the leaf veins to turn red, and the leaf texture to become coarse and old. In severe cases, the leaf tips and margins become reddish-brown and scorched, the buds and leaves shrivel, growth stops, and they may even be completely scorched, as if burned by fire. When affected leaves are made into dry tea, the amount of broken fragments increases, the taste is bitter and astringent, and both yield and quality are seriously affected.

The adult small green leafhopper is 3.5-4.0 mm long, pale green to yellow-green, with 2 small green spots in the middle of the top of the head, and the mesothoracic scutellum has a white stripe. The forewings are pale yellow-green, with the base of the anterior margin green and the wing tips transparent or slightly smoky brown. The egg is crescent-shaped, about 0.8 mm long and about 0.15 mm wide, initially milky white and gradually turning pale green; before hatching, a pair of red eye spots can be seen at the front end. The nymph has 5 instars; it is initially milky white, and as it grows it gradually turns pale yellow and then green, with wing buds beginning to appear at the 3rd instar and reaching the fifth abdominal segment at the 5th instar.

Control measures:

For the control of the small green leafhopper, on the basis of strengthening tea garden management, targeted agricultural measures should be adopted, such as timely weeding, picking in batches and multiple times, and timely pruning in winter, so as to reduce the pest population; avoid blind application of pesticides; and strengthen protection of natural enemies. The key point of control is to manage the first population peak well and avoid damage to the second round of tea. In the occurrence season, pesticide control should be carried out at the appropriate time according to pest forecasts. Pesticides may include imidacloprid-type products (such as Pishiya), Yousheng, Actara, Kung Fu, and others.

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