Both nymphs and adults of the maize orange leafhopper induce galls on their host plant

Abstract

The maize orange leafhopper, Cicadulina bipunctata is a multivoltine insect that induces galls on various plants of the Poaceae. A previous study revealed that galls produced by this leafhopper were induced by dose-dependent stimulation on distant leaves from the feeding site, probably by chemical(s) injected from adults during feeding. In this paper, we examined the gall-inducing ability of C. bipunctata nymphs. The degree of gall induction gradually increased depending on the number of feeding nymphs and there were no significant differences from the positive control (feeding by five male adults) when seedlings were exposed to five or more nymphs. These results indicate that both adults and nymphs of C. bipunctata have the ability to induce galls on their host plants, a unique feature among gall-inducing insects. This feature may be related to the free-living, multivoltine, and polyphagous habits of C. bipunctata.