Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society (1998) 33, 67-73

Thomas W. Culliney (1998)
Site of oviposition and description of eggs of Sophonia rufofascia (Homoptera: Cicadellidae: Nirvaninae), a polyphagous pest in Hawai'i
Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 33, 67-73
Abstract: Eggs and ovipositional site on the fern Dicranopteris linearis (Burman) Underwood (common name: uluhe) and the woody angiosperm Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willdenow (kukui) are described for Sophonia rufofascia (Kuoh and Kuoh), a polyphagous leafhopper pest of agriculture and forestry in Hawaii. Extremely little information is available on the bioecology of any Sophonia species; almost nothing is known of S. rufofascia. Acquisition of such basic biological information as the site of oviposition and egg characteristics of a pest species is a necessary prerequisite to further study of other aspects of its biology and to the search for potential biological control agents. Ovipositional scars were found on the abaxial surface of host plant foliage, usually at the juncture of the midrib vein and lamina. Many of the scars contained remains of the egg chorion. Eggs were hyaline to milky white, elongate and slightly curved, with a whitish operculum. They averaged 1.41 ± 0.01 mm in length, 0.30 mm at greatest width. Eggs were deposited at shallow depth in the pith of the vein with the long axis aligned with that of the vein. The predominance of unhatched eggs in the smaller uluhe fronds and kukui leaves suggests that females oviposit preferentially in younger foliage. The major veins presumably are the only sites available affording adequate protection for the large eggs produced by this species. Observations reported here suggest that the eggs of S. rufofascia deposited in certain hosts, such as D. linearis and A. moluccana, may be vulnerable to attack by egg parasitoids, and the leafhopper thus subject to potentially effective biological control by these agents.
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Database assignments for author(s): Thomas W. Culliney

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sophonia orientalis		U.S.A. (Hawaii)
	Sophonia orientalis	Tea (Camellia sinensis)	China (south)
	Sophonia orientalis	Rice (Oryza)	China (south)