Bio-ecology of the harmful leafhopper Zyginidia sohrab Zachvatkin, 1947 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in maize fields of the Central Anatolia Region

Leafhoppers damage plants by piercing and sucking leaf tissues. Among the leafhopper species occurring in Central Anatolia, Zyginidia sohrab (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is the most widespread and abundant species. This study was conducted under natural field conditions during the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons to investigate the bioecology of Z. sohrab in maize production areas. Z. sohrab overwinters as an adult and begins to emerge from overwintering sites in the last week of April as temperatures increase. Following emergence, adults feed for approximately 1–1.5 months on barley, wheat, and weeds growing along field margins. They subsequently migrate to maize fields in late May or early June when plants reach the 2–4 leaf stage. Under the climatic conditions of the region, Z. sohrab completes two generations annually on maize. Although the incubation period varied with temperature, eggs hatched within 1–2 weeks, and the five nymphal instars were completed in approximately 16 days before adult emergence. Second generation adults dispersed from maize fields to weeds along field margins following plant senescence or the harvest of silage maize and subsequently entered overwintering sites as temperatures declined. The pre-oviposition, oviposition, and post-oviposition periods were approximately one week, one month, and 15 days, respectively. The sex ratio of Z. sohrab was female-biased. Adults emerging from overwintering remained on maize plants for approximately 120 days in both years, whereas first- and second-generation adults were present for 130 and 60 days, respectively.