Yang, P., A. V. Alyokhin, and R. H. Messing. 2001. Patterns of oviposition and parasitism of eggs of Kallitaxila granulata (Homoptera: Tropiduchidae), a newly invasive planthopper in Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 35: 77-83.

Kallitaxila granulata (Stal) (Homoptera: Tropiduchidae), a recent invasive species in Hawaii, is a potential pest of agricultural and forest ecosystems. We present information on the planthopper’s oviposition behavior, its egg distribution patterns, and the occurrence of egg parasitoids in Hawaii. There were no differences in the percentage of leaves containing K. granulata oviposition scars or in the number of eggs per scar among 4 different host plants (guava, hapuu, uluhe and kukui) at 3 different sites. However, there were substantial differences in patterns of egg distribution among the host plants. The planthopper preferred to lay eggs into the veins and to oviposit clutches of eggs in clusters on guava plants, while it tended to lay eggs singly into the veins on hapuu. On kukui, eggs were deposited equally in or off the veins, and were mostly deposited singly. On all 3 host plants, eggs conformed to a negative binomial distribution. Two species of parasitoids were reared from K. granulata eggs: Chaetomymar sp. near bagicha (a common parasitoid of the twospotted leafhopper, Sophonia rufofascia), and Telenomus sp. (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). Total parasitism differed among host plants and sites with a range of 0 to 18.5%. [Full Text]