Green leafhopper in rice: symptoms, tungro risk and control in paddy

Photo at the top: An adult green leafhopper seen from above. The black spot in the middle of each wing marks a male. Photo: Natasha Wright, Braman Termite & Pest Elimination, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 US (cropped)

Quick answer

Green leafhopper in rice (GLH, Nephotettix species) is a small, bright green, wedge-shaped insect that sucks sap from paddy leaves. Leaves turn yellow from the tip down and plants stay short. Its bigger harm is spreading tungro virus. Use tolerant varieties and plant at the same time as your neighbours. Spray only at the threshold, with a labelled insecticide.

How to identify green leafhopper in rice

In Hindi this pest is called hara phudka (हरा फुदका). In Telugu it is pacha deepapu purugu (పచ్చ దీపపు పురుగు). The main species in India is Nephotettix virescens. Look on the upper part of the plant. Unlike brown plant hopper, GLH feeds on the leaf blades, not at the base of the stem near the water. When you come close, it moves sideways at an angle and then jumps or flies.

• Eggs: greenish and see-through. The female lays them in a single row of 10 to 15, inside the midrib of the leaf or in the leaf sheath, so you rarely see them.
• Nymphs (young hoppers): soft, with no wings. They are yellowish white at first and turn green as they grow. Some have black marks.
• Adults: 3 to 5 mm long, bright green and wedge-shaped, with black marks on the wings that vary from insect to insect. The male has a black spot in the middle of each front wing. The female does not.

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) describes these stages.

Damage signs: GLH in paddy

• Leaves turn yellow, starting from the tip and moving down.
• Plants grow slowly and stay short. They make fewer tillers that bear grain.
• In a heavy attack, plants dry up because of the sap they lose.
• Patches of yellow to orange, stunted plants in the field. This usually means tungro virus, which GLH spreads (see below).

Green leafhopper and tungro virus

GLH picks up tungro virus when it feeds on a sick plant. It then carries the virus to healthy plants. Tungro leaves turn yellow to orange from the tip, plants stay stunted and the crop loses yield. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) notes that GLH can also spread other rice diseases, such as yellow dwarf and transitory yellowing. No spray cures a plant that already has tungro. Sprays only control the insect. Read our guide to tungro disease in paddy for the full picture.

Look-alikes and how to tell them apart

• Brown plant hopper (BPH): brown, not green. It sits in groups at the base of the plant, just above the water, and causes round patches of dried plants called hopper burn. See our brown plant hopper guide.
• White-backed plant hopper (WBPH): darker, with a clear white band down the middle of the back. It also feeds low on the plant. See our white-backed plant hopper guide.
• Nitrogen shortage: IRRI warns that tungro yellowing can be mistaken for nitrogen deficiency or iron toxicity. With nitrogen shortage, the older lower leaves turn pale first across the whole field, and you may find few or no hoppers. Our nitrogen deficiency guide explains the signs.
• Jassids in cotton and vegetables: these are close relatives of GLH and look alike, but they attack other crops. See jassids in cotton, okra and brinjal.

Life cycle and when it attacks

The female pushes her eggs into the leaf midrib or sheath of rice or wild grasses. The nymphs hatch, feed on the leaves and grow into adults in a few weeks. Adults fly to new fields, and many are drawn to lights at night.

TNAU notes that the insect is most active from July to September, which is the main kharif season. IRRI adds a few points. GLH builds up when neighbours plant at different times, because it can keep moving to younger crops. It prefers fields that got a lot of nitrogen. It is common in irrigated and rainfed lowland paddy, and less so in upland rice. Grassy weeds on bunds and leftover rice plants between seasons keep it alive until the next crop.

Young plants are most at risk from tungro. The nursery and the first weeks after transplanting are the time to watch most closely.

Crops it attacks

Paddy (rice): GLH is a rice pest. It attacks the nursery and the main field from transplanting to flowering. Direct sap loss weakens the plants. In areas where tungro is common, even a few hoppers in the nursery or early crop can spread the virus across the field. Wild grasses and leftover rice plants act as its hosts between crops.

When to spray for green leafhopper in rice (economic threshold)

The economic threshold (ETL) is the pest level at which spraying starts to pay for itself. TNAU gives these levels:

• 5 hoppers per hill at the vegetative (growing) stage.
• 10 hoppers per hill at flowering.
• 2 hoppers per hill in areas where tungro is common.
• Or 60 hoppers in 25 sweeps of an insect net.

The Integrated Pest Management Package for Rice (NCIPM, DPPQS and NIPHM) gives a similar threshold for tungro areas: 1 tungro plant per square metre together with 2 GLH per hill, in areas where tungro is common.

Check the field once or twice a week from the nursery onwards. Walk across the field, not just along the bund. Count hoppers on several hills in different places. IRRI advises that where there is no tungro in the area, sprays against GLH are usually not needed.

Green leafhopper control without chemicals

• Tolerant varieties: the rice IPM package lists Vikramarya, Nidhi, IR 24, Radha, Mahananda and Kunti as tolerant to GLH. It lists Vikramarya, Nidhi, Amulya, Dinesh, Lakshmi and Nalini as tolerant to tungro. Vikramarya was released in Andhra Pradesh. Ask your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) which varieties suit your area and season.
• Plant together: transplant at the same time as your neighbours. Grow no more than two rice crops a year, and keep a gap with no rice between seasons. Both IRRI and the IPM package advise this.
• Older seedlings: transplanting seedlings older than 3 weeks makes plants less likely to get viruses spread by leafhoppers (IPM package).
• Nursery away from lights: TNAU advises against raising the nursery near street lamps, as the hoppers come to the light.
• Nitrogen: give only the recommended amount of urea, in split doses. Too much nitrogen draws more GLH. A leaf colour chart helps you judge how much the crop needs.
• Clean bunds: remove grassy weeds from bunds and channels. They are the hopper's other food plants.
• Crop rotation: grow a non-rice crop in the dry season where you can. This breaks the chain of hosts for the virus and the insect.
• Remove tungro plants: pull out plants with tungro early and bury them away from the field, so they do not feed the virus to new hoppers.
• Light traps: show you when adults arrive. The IPM package suggests running a light trap for two hours in the evening.
• Natural enemies: spiders (wolf, lynx and long-jawed spiders), ladybird beetles, rove beetles, mirid bugs and tiny wasps eat GLH or its eggs. Sprays that are not needed, especially early in the season, kill these friends and can let hoppers build up again. Do not spray when it is not needed.

Green leafhopper insecticides: chemical control in paddy

Only the products below have paddy and green leafhopper on their official label or leaflet. Doses are per acre, as printed on the label or worked out from the label's per-hectare dose. Spray one product at a time. Do not mix products in one tank. Wet the leaves well, because GLH feeds on the leaf blades.

Paddy

Product	Contains	Label dose per acre	Water per acre	Wait before harvest
Ulala Insecticide	Flonicamid 50% WG	61 g	200 L	36 days
Skystar Insecticide	Dinotefuran 15% + Pymetrozine 45% WG	135 g	200 L	24 days
Apache Systemic Insecticide	Fipronil 15% + Flonicamid 15% WDG	162 g	200 L	30 days
Hogger Insecticide	Dinotefuran 70% WG	36 g	200 L	32 days
Hokori Insecticide	Dinotefuran 5% + Ethion 50% EC	405 ml	200 L	33 days
Jhumru Insecticide	Fipronil 4% + Thiamethoxam 4% SC	445 g	200 L	45 days
Mahaveer Insecticide	Fipronil 5% SC	405–607 ml	200 L	32 days
Ampligo Insecticide	Lambda-cyhalothrin 4.6% + Chlorantraniliprole 9.3% ZC	81–101 ml	200 L	53 days
Virtako Insecticide	Thiamethoxam 1.0% + Chlorantraniliprole 0.5% GR (granules)	2.4 kg	No water: spread by hand	60 days
Disect Insecticide	Bifenthrin 10% EC	Dose as per label	As per label	Not given in our label record

Notes from the labels:

• Ulala: spray after the pest appears, from the vegetative to the reproductive stage. Two or three sprays, depending on pest level.
• Skystar: spray when the pest reaches ETL.
• Apache: spray soon after the pest appears, from the vegetative to the reproductive stage. Two or three sprays, depending on the attack.
• Hogger: spray when the pest reaches ETL, in the morning or evening. No more than two sprays.
• Hokori: spray at ETL.
• Jhumru: spray at the vegetative stage, two or three sprays, in the morning or evening. Avoid the afternoon, use it when the wind is steady and the temperature is below 30 °C, and use a knapsack sprayer with a hollow cone nozzle. The label prints this dose in grams.
• Mahaveer: first spray 25–30 days after transplanting.
• Ampligo: first spray when the pest starts to build up (at ETL). One more spray 10–15 days later if the attack is heavy. Its label also lists stem borer and leaf folder in rice.
• Virtako: granules, not a spray. Spread them by hand as evenly as you can, once only, 20 days after transplanting. Its label also lists stem borer, leaf folder and brown plant hopper in rice.
• Disect: the pack label lists green leafhopper in rice but does not print the dose. It says to read the leaflet inside the pack. Follow that leaflet.
• Skystar, Apache, Hokori, Jhumru, Ampligo and Virtako each hold two active ingredients. They are ready-mixed products approved on the label. They are not tank mixes.

Rotate to avoid resistance

Hoppers can stop responding to an insecticide used again and again. Insecticides are grouped by how they work, using the IRAC code (IRAC is the international Insecticide Resistance Action Committee). Change the group from one spray to the next.

IRAC group	Active ingredient	Products in this article
29	Flonicamid	Ulala, and one part of Apache
9B	Pymetrozine	One part of Skystar
4A (neonicotinoids)	Dinotefuran, thiamethoxam	Hogger, and one part of Skystar, Hokori, Jhumru and Virtako
2B	Fipronil	Mahaveer, and one part of Apache and Jhumru
1B (organophosphates)	Ethion	One part of Hokori
3A (pyrethroids)	Lambda-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin	Disect, and one part of Ampligo
28	Chlorantraniliprole	One part of Ampligo and Virtako

Group 4A is in five of the ten products. If you used Virtako granules or a 4A spray, choose the next spray from a product without group 4A, such as Ulala (29). Group 2B is in Mahaveer, Apache and Jhumru, so do not use these one after another either. Keep to the number of sprays each label allows.

Safety and waiting period

• The waiting period before harvest (PHI, pre-harvest interval) for each product is in the table above. Count the days from the last spray or granule application. For Disect our label record does not give a waiting period, so check the leaflet before use.
• Wear gloves, a mask, full-sleeve clothes and boots while mixing and spraying. Do not eat, drink or smoke while you work. Wash well afterwards.
• Bees: the Hogger label warns that it is toxic to honey bees. Jhumru and Virtako labels warn that they are very toxic to bees. Do not spray when bees are working in or near the field.
• Fish: Jhumru and Virtako labels warn against use in paddy fields where fish or prawns are raised. The Disect label says not to use it near ponds, canals or fish farms. Keep sprays and washings away from water.
• Read the label and leaflet before use.

Frequently asked questions

What are the symptoms of green leafhopper in rice?

Leaves turn yellow from the tip downwards and plants stay short with fewer tillers. Patches of yellow to orange, stunted plants usually mean tungro, the virus GLH spreads. Look for small green hoppers on the upper leaves.

What is the ETL of GLH in paddy?

TNAU gives 5 hoppers per hill at the vegetative stage and 10 per hill at flowering. In areas where tungro is common, act at 2 hoppers per hill.

Which insecticide controls green leafhopper?

Use one whose label lists paddy and green leafhopper. On our store these are Ulala, Skystar, Apache, Hogger, Hokori, Jhumru, Mahaveer, Ampligo, Virtako and Disect. Doses are in the table above. Change the IRAC group from one spray to the next.

Can I cure tungro by spraying?

No. No spray cures a plant that already has tungro. Sprays only kill the hoppers that carry the virus, and IRRI notes they often cannot stop tungro from spreading. Tolerant varieties, planting at the same time as neighbours, and removing sick plants early do more.

Is green leafhopper the same as the jassid in cotton?

No. They are close relatives and look alike, but GLH lives on rice and grasses. Jassids attack cotton, okra and brinjal. The products and doses are different.

Related reading

• Tungro in paddy: the virus green leafhopper spreads
• Brown plant hopper in paddy: symptoms, treatment and control
• White-backed plant hopper in paddy
• Nitrogen deficiency: signs and how to fix it
• Products for paddy
• All insecticides

Sources

• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech Portal: Green leafhopper of rice
• NCIPM (ICAR), DPPQS and NIPHM: Integrated Pest Management Package for Rice
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Rice Knowledge Bank: Green leafhopper
• Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC): Mode of action classification
• Product labels and leaflets of the insecticides listed above.