Jacobiasca formosana
| Jacobiasca formosana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Family: | Cicadellidae |
| Genus: | Empoasca |
| Species: | E. onukii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Empoasca onukii (Matsuda)
| |
| Jacobiasca formosana | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 茶小綠葉蟬 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 小綠浮塵子 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 浮塵仔 | ||||||
| |||||||
Empoasca onukii, the tea jassid, is an insect species belonging to the subfamily Typhlocybinae of the family Cicadellidae. Plant hosts include Gossypium (cotton) species[1] and, notably, Camellia sinensis (Chinese tea plants). The species is distributed throughout East, Southeast, and South Asia (including in China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand).[1]
Names
[edit]Common names for E. onukii include the small green leafhopper, tea green leafhopper, or tea jassid.[2] In Mandarin Chinese, the insect is referred to as 茶小綠葉蟬 (chá xiǎo lǜ yèchán) or 小綠浮塵子 (xiǎo lǜ fúchénzǐ).[2] In Siyen Hakka, it is called 著涎 (Zhe xián), 著蜒 (Zhe yán), or 著煙 (Zhe yān). In Taiwanese, it is 浮塵仔 (phû-tîn-á), 蜒仔 (iân-á), 蝝仔 (iân-á), 烟仔 (ian-á), 趙烟 (tiō-ian), 跳仔 (tiô-á) or 青仔 (chhiⁿ-á).[2][3]
Taxonomy
[edit]It was previously thought that the tea jassids in Japan, Taiwan, and China were three distinct species (Empoasca onukii, Jacobiasca formosana, and Empoasca vitis, respectively). Newer molecular[4] and morphological[5] evidence shows that they are all the same species, Empoasca onukii.
Description and habits
[edit]The mature J. formosana are slender and yellowish-green with translucent wings with a body length of about 3 mm (0.1 in).[2]
The adults eat young plant shoots for the nutrient solution within, slowing bud growth and causing yellow-green bud curling.[2] The leaf margins turn brown and eventually fall off.[2]
Use in tea production
[edit]Empoasca onukii is important in the production of Taiwan's dongfang meiren tea. The tea, which is an oolong tea with a flavor likened to ripened fruit and honey, is made from leaves that have been fed upon by these insects.[6] The insects, which thrive in warmer, pollution-free environments, suck the phloem juices of the tea stems, leaves, and buds, producing monoterpene diol and hotrienol which give the tea its unique flavor.[6]
This process has inspired makers of other types of tea such as dongding oolong tea and the east coast black teas of Hualien and Taitung to withhold pesticide use in order to replicate this process in other teas.[7] Similar action of jassids and thrips helps form the muscatel-like flavor of India's second flush Darjeeling tea.[8]
See also
[edit]- Leafhoppers
- Camellia sinensis, the Chinese tea plant
- Dongfang meiren tea
References
[edit]- ^ a b Dmitry A. Dmitriev. "Jacobiasca formosana (Paoli, 1932)" at 3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f 茶小綠葉蟬 Archived 2013-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, Council of Agriculture. Retrieved 20 July 2012.(in Chinese)
- ^ 台灣茶小綠葉蟬 Archived 2013-01-05 at archive.today [Taiwan tea leafhopper] (in Chinese)
- ^ Fu, Jian-Yu; Han, Bao-Yu; Xiao, Qiang (15 December 2014). "Mitochondrial COI and 16sRNA Evidence for a Single Species Hypothesis of E. vitis, J. formosana and E. onukii in East Asia". PLOS ONE. 9 (12): e115259. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9k5259F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115259. PMC 4266653. PMID 25506929.
- ^ Qin, Daozheng; Zhang, Li; Xiao, Qiang; Dietrich, Christopher; Matsumura, Masaya (30 September 2015). "Clarification of the Identity of the Tea Green Leafhopper Based on Morphological Comparison between Chinese and Japanese Specimens". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0139202. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1039202Q. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139202. PMC 4589377. PMID 26422616.
- ^ a b Kazufumi Yazaki. "Molecular Mechanism of Plant - Insect Interaction via Plant Volatile Compounds and its Application." Archived 2012-05-08 at the Wayback Machine Exploratory Research at the Institute of Sustainability Science, Kyoto University, 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- ^ Stephane Erler. "A Study of Oriental Beauty". Tea Masters Blog. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- ^ Bornali Gohain et al. "Understanding Darjeeling Tea Flavour on a Molecular Basis". Plant Molecular Biology 78.6 (2012), 577-597, DOI: 10.1007/s11103-012-9887-0 Retrieved 20 July 2012.