Biosecurity threat, not present in Australia
Amrasca (Sundapteryx) biguttula (Ishida)
Indian cotton leafhopper
Caution
Many of the insects depicted on these pages are outwardly similar and you should not use photographs as the sole means of identification. These pages form part of a scientific key which will assist a trained entomologist to identify the species accurately.
Amrasca (Sundapteryx) biguttula (Ishida, 1913) = Amrasca devastans (Distant, 1918)
Common Name: Indian cotton leafhopper, cotton leafhopper, Indian cotton jassid
Subfamily/Tribe: Typhlocybinae/ Empoascini
Distribution: Pakistan, India, Ghana, Afghanistan, China, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Guam, Christmas Island (see Notes below)
Economic Status: Amrasca biguttula is very polyphagous, examples of the economic crops that it attacks are okra, sunflower, eggplant, beans, potato, cotton, maize, tomato, radish, soyabeans, and sugarbeet. The resulting damage to plants includes leaf discolouration and stunted growth of the entire plant.
Notes: The taxonomy of the complex including Amrasca biguttula and Amrasca devastans was recently resolved (Xu et al. 2017). There is currently one species of Amrasca present in Australia, Amrasca terraereginae (Paoli). However, a single record of Amrasca biguttula from Christmas Island exists, but the status of the subspecies on Christmas Island is unknown (see the Australian Faunal Directory).
The identification of Typhlocybinae are notoriously difficult and should be confirmed with dissection of male genitalia. More information on A. biguttula, particularly on control methods, can be found at: https://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=20857
Image: ©Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org (used with permission)