Effect of organic rice farming on planthoppers .4. Reproduction of the white backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera Horvath (Homoptera: Delphacidae)

The reproduction of Sogatella furcifera was investigated in a chemically fertilized rice field and an organically farmed field. In the latter, the density of immigrants was significantly higher, while the settling rate of female adults and the survival rate of immature stages of ensuing generations were lower. The number of eggs laid by a female of the invading and following generations was smaller, and the percentage of brachypterous females in the next generation was also lower. Consequently, the density of nymphs and adults in the ensuing generations decreased in the organically farmed field. For an experimental comparison, potted rice plants were cultivated using seedlings and soil from the chemically fertilized or the organically farmed fields. When Sogatella furcifera was reared on these plants, both the reproductive rate and the appearance rate of brachypterous female adults were lower in the organic treatment. Egg hatchability was also lower in the organic treatment. This experiment suggested that a specific nutritional condition in rice plants suppressed the population of S. furcifera in the organically farmed field.