Seasonal phenology and damage by Singapora shinshana (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and other leafhoppers on ornamental trees in Korea

Abstract

Singapora shinshana is a leafhopper native to mid-Asia with a specific host range and is one of the least studied species within the genus. Recently, the species has been found to cause significant damage to host plants including ornamental trees, normally inflicted by its sucking behavior. This study uncovered more details on host and season preference of S. shinshana, damage potential and symptoms caused by its feeding behavior on ornamental trees in Korea, in addition to other records of other leafhoppers of economic importance. During the sticky trap survey period from 2017 to 2019, 12 leafhopper species were recovered from the eight selected ornamental tree species. Singapora shinshana was the most dominant species, constituting 94.8% of the total collected leafhopper population; with its highest incidence observed on Prunus serrulata, followed by Elaeagnus umbellata and Pseudocydonia sinensis. The high abundance on P. serrulata correlated with high damaged leaf percentages of 94.2%, 95.2%, and 98.1% in October 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. Interestingly, in terms of damaged leaf percentage, Rosa hybrida and Zelkova serrata were the second and third most damaged hosts despite the significantly lower population of the leafhopper on these trees. Furthermore, S. shinshana counts increased from late-July to late-September, with the peak evident during early August. Prunus serrulata can therefore be taken as one of the main host plants of S. shinshana. However, the potential of the host to suffer damage is not limited to population densities of the pest alone but also susceptibility and tolerance of the host plant.

Phylogenetic Analysis of Two New Mitochondrial Genomes of Singapora shinshana and Seriana bacilla from the Karst Region of Southwest China

“…Cicadellidae, the largest family of Hemiptera, is a type of insect harmful to cereals, vegetables, fruit trees and other trees [3]. S. shinshana and S. bacilla (Typhlocybinae, Cicadellidae, Hemiptera, Erythroneurini) cause significant damage to leaves of peach trees and potatoes by their sucking behavior, thus leading to yellow-whitish spots on the leaves [4,5]. This damage has a serious impact on the normal growth of agricultural and forestry crops and cause a decline in fruit yield.…”

“…In recent years, the majority of studies have focused on the identification and recording of the genera Singapora and Seriana [24][25][26]. In addition, the seasonal phenology and damage caused by S. shinshana have attracted the attention of many experts [4]. However, the lack of mitogenome sequences for S. shinshana and S. bacilla has limited our understanding of their phylogenetic position within Erythroneurini.…”

A new leafhopper genus of Erythroneurini (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from karst area in southwestern China

“…They are important agricultural and forestry pests that feed on an extensive variety of plants, including cereal crops, vegetables, fruit trees and wild grasses, and they are also vectors of plant disease through a combination of herbivory and pathogen transmission (Morris, 1971;Guo, 2011;Roddee et al, 2018). Host plants for most species remain unknown, but species with known hosts appear to be highly host-specific (Jiang et al, 2005;Jarrell et al, 2020;Kim et al, 2021).…”