Meet the tiny but mighty citrus flatid planthopper, an insect making a big buzz in the world of citrus farming with its distinctive waxy, bluish-white coating and flat, leaf-like appearance. Let’s dive into the world of this species, exploring its behavior, life cycle, and its impact on citrus crops.
Scientific name: Metcalfa pruinosa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Flatidae
Genus: Metcalfa
Appearance
The citrus flatid planthopper is a small insect that belongs to the Flatidae family and the Hemiptera order. It looks unique, with the adults being about 5.5 to 8 mm long. Their bodies are flat from the sides, and when you look from above, they seem wedge-shaped. Their compound eyes are yellow or orange-yellow and their antennae are short, bristle-like, and made up of three segments.
The color of this insect can vary, appearing brown or gray. Its wings and body are usually covered with a powdery, bluish-white substance. The wings are shaped like elongated triangles and, when at rest, are held tent-like, almost vertically over the body. On the front half of each wing, there are two dark spots. The front edge of the forewing has many crisscross veins that connect to the first long vein. The veins near the bottom are bumpy.
The nymphs of these citrus flatid planthoppers are flat and white, with lots of powdery stuff on them that makes them look fuzzy. They hang out on plant stems, and sometimes people confuse them with other bugs like woolly aphids or mealybugs. As they grow up, they start to look like a Star Wars vehicle, with white threads trailing behind them.
Habitat
This type of planthopper is originally from eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec down to Florida, and west to the Great Plains, and also to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Mexico. They are also found in Cuba. They’ve been brought into southern Europe and South Korea, where they’ve become a problematic invasive species in orchards and vineyards.
These species can be found in woodlands, gardens, or vegetable patches. They tend to stick close to the ground, but you might also find them higher up on the stems and leaves of certain plants.
Diet
As the name suggests, this planthopper species eats citrus plants. However, it also consumes other plant species including grape, maple, willow, elm, black locust, elder, dogwood, hawthorn, and raspberry. They use their straw-like mouthparts to sip sap from plants. When they eat sap, they release extra sugar as honeydew. Bees come for the honeydew and turn it into honey.
Life cycle
The breeding season of the citrus flatid planthopper occurs in the fall, mostly at night. After mating, the females deposit 100 eggs on the bark of plants they like. The eggs stay through winter and hatch the following May. Once hatched, the nymphs grow through five stages and become adults by summer and fall. In Florida, you can find these nymphs from April to June and the grown-ups from May to June. The lifespan of an adult citrus flatid planthopper lasts for a few weeks and it just has one generation per year.
Reference: Wikipedia
