The North American flatid planthopper Metcalfa pruinosa (Say) was introduced to northern Italy in the late 1970’s and has subsequently spread throughout Italy and Sicily and is currently found from eastern Spain to Austria and Greece. This polyphagous insect can reach high densities on a variety of economically important woody plants including grapes, olives, citrus, and pears. In the present study we focussed on the feeding activity schedules of late instar nymphal and adult M. pruinosa by measuring honeydew production. Both nymphs and adults produced significantly greater amounts of honeydew during the day (8 - 16 hrs) than either evening (16 - 24 hrs) or night (0 - 8 hrs).
Species 1: Homoptera Flatidae Metcalfa pruinosa
Keywords: planthopper, introduced species
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