Seasonal migration of white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera Horváth (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) over the Bohai Sea in northern China

Abstract

The white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) is a major pest of rice in Asia. In spring and summer, this species migrates thousands of kilometers northward from tropical and subtropical regions into temperate climate zones, such as northern China, Korean Peninsula, and Japan. Previous studies on the migration behavior of S. furcifera have been done mainly in southern and eastern China. However, the species' pattern of seasonal migration in northern China remains unknown. In northern China, occurrence and flight trajectories of S. furcifera migration across the Bohai Sea were studied on Beihuang Island (BH) in the center of the Bohai Strait from spring to autumn 2003–2016 using searchlight trapping and trajectory simulation. During the period 2003–2016, all S. furcifera adults were captured in July, August and September; the earliest capture occurred on 12 July 2013 and the latest on 26 September 2007. The longest annual migration span at BH was 60d in 2014. Simulation of possible migration trajectories demonstrates that S. furcifera mainly migrates between Shandong Province and Liaoning Province (or the Korean Peninsula) in both directions. Overall, our research will contribute to a better understanding of the occurrence of S. furcifera in China and to the construction of a real-time prediction system in future.