Identification of Tea Green Leafhopper
The tea green leafhopper, also known as Empoasca vitis, belongs to the order Hemiptera and the family Cicadellidae. It is commonly known as "floating dust," "leafhopper," and so on. Its occurrence is widespread, found in tea-producing provinces and autonomous regions across the country. The morphological characteristics, habits, and occurrence patterns of the tea green leafhopper are as follows:
Adult Stage: Adults are 3-4 millimeters long, ranging from light green to yellow-green. They have gray-brown compound eyes, and the head, prothorax, and small shield often have white spots. The base of the forewings is green, fading outward to near transparency at the tip, while the hind wings are thin, transparent, and iridescent. Their leg tibiae are green below the tip and brown elsewhere. They are phototropic, proficient jumpers, and are usually found resting on the tender shoots and leaves of tea trees during the day, fleeing rapidly when disturbed.
Nymph Stage: Nymphs undergo four molts, totaling five instars, with each instar having a similar appearance but lacking wings. They start off white and gradually turn yellow-green, ranging from 0.8 to 2.5 millimeters in length. They have large heads, red compound eyes, and slender abdomens. Nymphs also feed on the sap of tender shoots and leaves of tea trees, cohabiting and feeding with adults.
Egg Stage: The eggs are crescent-shaped, about 0.8 millimeters long, initially light green, then turning milky white, with a pair of red eye spots visible before hatching. They are usually laid in clusters of tens to over a hundred, covered with white fluffy material. Eggs are laid in crevices of tea tree branches, soil cracks, fallen leaves on the soil surface, or among branches and leaves.
The damage symptoms of tea green leafhoppers include yellowing along the leaf margins, reddening of leaf veins, leaf curling, coarsening, stunting, etc. Severe infestations can lead to entire leaves becoming scorched and falling off, affecting the yield and quality of tea leaves. The characteristic of tea green leafhopper damage is that it occurs in multiple generations, reproduces quickly, spreads rapidly, and is prone to outbreaks. Serious occurrences are seen in tea-producing provinces south of the Yangtze River, especially in provinces such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hunan.
Control Methods of Tea Green Leafhopper
Given the occurrence characteristics and degree of damage of the tea green leafhopper, the following control methods can be adopted:
Weed Removal: Timely removal of weeds in tea gardens and surrounding areas to reduce the density of overwintering adults and the number of insects in the current year. Removing weeds before spraying can enhance the efficacy of pesticides.
Timely Harvesting: Harvesting in batches and in a timely manner to reduce places for adult oviposition and the presence of egg-laden tender shoots, thereby suppressing pest occurrence.
Manual Trapping and Killing: Utilizing the phototactic nature of tea green leafhoppers to lure and kill them with light or using unmated females to lure and kill males, reducing the number of mating and egg-laying.
Chemical Control: During the peak period of tea green leafhopper occurrence, selecting low-toxic, high-efficiency, and safe pesticides for spraying, such as flubendiamide, tebufenozide, chlorfenapyr, etc., spraying once every 7-10 days for 2-3 consecutive times, paying attention to prevent pesticide damage and residues.
Biological Control: Utilizing pathogens and natural enemies of tea green leafhoppers, such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, parasitic wasps, spiders, etc., to infect or prey on tea green leafhoppers, achieving the purpose of control.
Yeehar Agricultural Science has been deeply engaged in the field of green prevention and control for many years and has developed a series of products including natural enemy-friendly series, insect situation monitoring and forecasting series, and trapping series, aiming to achieve the goal of "disaster prevention and reduction, quality improvement and efficiency increase, and safety guarantee." We have various methods for trapping and controlling tea green leafhoppers.
1. Natural Enemy-Friendly Sticky Insect Traps: Designed with red and yellow color blocks to attract and kill tea green leafhoppers with low accidental killing rates of natural enemies. High-viscosity waterproof adhesive is used, which does not liquefy at high temperatures and does not dissolve in rain, and the degradable material can degrade in about six months.
2. Small-volume Insect Light Traps: This device is specifically designed to capture small insects with high efficiency and is suitable for monitoring and controlling small insects such as tea green leafhoppers. It is widely used in agricultural research, field monitoring, and protection against tea garden pests, capturing and monitoring small insect populations harmful to crops, achieving precise control of key pests.
3. Color Attraction Pest Intelligent Monitoring Device: This intelligent pest monitoring device utilizes the color attraction behavior of pests like the tea green leafhopper to automatically lure and photograph them. Through 4G network communication with the cloud platform, it automatically identifies and analyzes the types and quantities of pests based on high-precision image recognition algorithms, achieving intelligent monitoring and early warning of pest occurrences.
Notes on the Prevention and Control of Tea Green Leafhopper
When conducting the prevention and control of tea green leafhoppers, attention should also be paid to the following:
Timing of Control: Control should be carried out according to the occurrence regularity of tea green leafhoppers, focusing on the initial and peak periods of occurrence, especially the overwintering generation and the first generation, to control them in a timely manner and prevent their spread.
Methods of Control: Various control methods should be comprehensively applied, emphasizing not only physical, biological, and agricultural non-chemical control but also the appropriate use of chemical pesticides to avoid the development of resistance in tea green leafhoppers or negative impacts on tea trees and tea leaves.
Control Effectiveness: Regular monitoring and evaluation of the occurrence and control effectiveness of tea green leafhoppers should be conducted, and control measures should be adjusted according to actual situations to ensure the health of tea gardens and the quality of tea leaves.
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