The probing behavior of the tea green leafhopper on different tea plant cultivars
假眼小绿叶蝉（Empoasca vitis Gothe）在不同品种茶树上的取食行为

The probing behaviors of the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca vitis Gothe, on nine tea cultivars were studied by videotext Direct Current-Electrical Penetration Graph, i.e. DC-EPG. Following seven types of waveforms produced by the leafhopper stylet probing were determined: A, stylet pathway formation; S, salivation when stylets pierce into and stay in phloem; C, active ingestion before stylets reach phloem; E and F, passive ingestion in phloem; R, the insect resting with its stylet inserted into the leaf tissue and NP, not probing. The nine tested tea cultivars were categorized into three groups by cluster analysis according to the number of probes per insect, waveform durations, or duration per probe including various waveforms on different tea cultivars.Waveforms S, E and F correlated to the main feeding activity of the leafhoppers and may provide valuable information on predicting the resistance levels of the tea plants to the leafhopper. The resistance level of the nine tea cultivars to the leafhopper was ranked based on the durations of waveform S, E and F, as well as the duration every probe including various waveforms. The ranking order of the resistance was: Longjingchangye > Hangdan > Zhenghedabaicha > Qianmei 601 > Hongyafoshuo > Zhongcha 102 > Zhongcha 302 > Longjing 43 > Anjibaicha, which was correspondent to the resistance level determined by the population density (infestation) of the leafhopper on the nine tea cultivars in the tea fields. Our study suggests that this simple!and convenient DC-EPG technique might have great potential as a reliable tool to predict the resistance of tea cultivars to the tea leafhoppers.