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Sticker of Black planthopper
Bug card No. 0420 of 4,939

Black planthopper

Ricania speculum
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The black planthopper is a small insect with dark brown wings that have see-through patches, like little windows. It holds its wings like a tent over its body. It sucks the sap from leaves.

Lives in
East and Southeast Asia, and now also northern Italy, in orchards and low mountain woods
Length
8 mm (0.31 in)
Wingspan
1.5 cm (0.59 in)
Top speed
about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It only drinks plant sap.
What does it eat?
It sucks sap from the leaves of plants such as apple trees, coffee plants, citrus trees and oil palms.
For real!Photo of Black planthopper
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Black planthopper about 8 mm long (0.31 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)

How wide are its wings?

Black planthopper wings about 1.5 cm tip to tip (0.59 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 3.6 secondsmoves 35 times its own body length every second

How big is Black planthopper compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its young are white with brown marks and have fluffy wax on the end of their bodies.

2

It spends the winter as eggs tucked into the bark of branches.

3

It likes dark, shady places.

4

It was carried to northern Italy by accident, maybe with garden plants.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black planthopper

?What does the black planthopper eat?

It sucks sap from leaves. That is why farmers see it as a pest.

?Is the black planthopper dangerous?

No, it is harmless to people. It can only harm plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ricania speculum
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Ricaniidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Ricaniidae
Lives on
Asia, Europe
Also known as
Ricaniid planthopper

Where the facts come from

  1. Ricania speculum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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