Amino Acids in Honeydews of the Rice Planthoppers and Leafhoppers (Homoptera : Delphacidae, Deltocephalidae)

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Abstract
Amino acids in honeydews of three species of planthoppers (Nilaparvata lugens, Laodelphax striatellus and Sogatella frucifera) and two species of leafhoppers (Inazuma dorsalis and Nephotettix cincticeps) were examined by thin layer chromatography and on an automatic amino acid analyser. The honedews excreted by N. lugens, L. striatellus, S. frucifera and I. dorsalis contained 18 kinds of amino acids, with a predominance in aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, glutamine and valine. On the contrary, the honeydew of N. cincticeps contained only a very small amount of most amino acids with the exception of aspartic and glutamic acid. Insects which suck rice seedlings in the germinating stage excreted comparatively fewer amino acids. Those sucking an artificial amino acids solution excreted the same kinds of amino acids as present in the ingested solution. When distilled water was sucked, only traces of amino acids were excreted. It seems likely that the free amino acids in honeydew excreted by the rice plant- and leafhoppers were mostly derived from the ingested plant sap. It is also considered that N. cincticeps preferentially sucks the xylem to the phloem when compared to the other species.

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