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Jacobiasca formosana

Jacobiasca formosana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Cicadellidae
Subfamily: Typhlocybinae
Tribe: Empoascini
Genus: Jacobiasca
Dworakowska, 1972
Species: J. formosana
Binomial name
Jacobiasca formosana
(Paoli, 1932)
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

Jacobiasca formosana is an insect species belonging to the subfamily Typhlocybinae of the family Cicadellidae. Plant hosts include Gossypium (cotton) species 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).

Common names for J. formosana include the small green leafhopper, tea green leafhopper, or tea jassid. 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). 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).

Confusingly, Empoasca vitis (the false-eye leafhopper; 假眼小綠葉蟬) is also called the tea green leafhopper and Empoasca flavescens (蓮霧小綠葉蟬) is also called the small green leafhopper.

The mature J. formosana are slender and yellowish-green with translucent wings with a body length of about 3 mm (0.1 in).

The adults eat young plant shoots for the nutrient solution within, which retards bud growth and causes yellow-green bud curling. The leaf margins turn brown and eventually fall off.

J. formosana 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 partially eaten by these insects. 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.


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