(Hilda patruelis)
Credits: Biovision-Infonet
(c) ICRISAT
It is about 5mm in length, brown or green in colour with white marks and strips on the wings. The nymphs resemble the adults but without fully developed wings.
These insects live in clusters or colonies, and are attended by ants that feed the honeydew excreted by the hoppers. These sucking insects attack the plants at the base of the stem, usually below ground level.
The toxic saliva injected while feeding causes the plant to wither, turn yellow and die.
The extent of damage can be important when the insect occurs in large numbers. The first sign of infestation is the presence of black ants.
What to do:
- Use tolerant or resistant varieties. The groundnut variety “Nyanda” is reported to be tolerant to aphids and to the groundnut hopper (IAN, 2003).