Vol 4 I ssue 4, 2011 _________________________________________________________ www. cur r ent biot ica. com 397 I SSN 0973- 4031 Taxonomic studies on leafhopper fauna associated with rice ecosystems in Tripura Samik Chowdhury *, V. Rama Subba Rao and K. Sreedevi Department of Entomology, S.V Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517502, (A.P), India *E-mail: samikchowdhury33@gmail.com ABSTRACT A study was taken up during 2009 – 10 to collect and identify the leaf hoppers associated with rice ecosystem of Tripura region and thereby prepare key for identification. Collection revealed that nineteen leafhoppers are associated with rice crop ecosystem in different zones of Tripura state in India, which were identified subsequently. A key for distinguishing these leafhoppers along with illustrations has been provided. KEY WORDS: Cicadellidae, key to species, leafhoppers, rice, Tripura INTRODUCTION Leafhoppers belong to the family Cicadellidae of the order, Hemiptera. These are small wedge shaped insects of various forms, colour, and sizes and distinguished by having one or more rows of small spines extending the length of hind tibia. They are widely distributed and many of its members are serious pests and vectors of diseases of many economic crops. The effective management of pest species damaging the crop cannot be undertaken without accurate identification. The literature dealing with the identification and taxonomy of insects is scattered in many journals and monographs published over many years and in many languages, many of these works are very difficult to obtain. The broad objective of this work is to give a comprehensive account of leafhoppers found in rice ecosystems of Tripura and preparation of taxonomic key for the identification of common species found in rice ecosystem. MATERIALS AND METHODS The leafhoppers were collected in rice crops of different agro climatic zones of Tripura by sweeping with the help of an insect net during 2009-10. About ten to fifteen net sweepings were taken each time and leafhoppers collected were aspirated from net, killed with ethyl acetate swab and transferred to homeopathic vials, labeled and brought to the laboratory and dried in an oven at 40-45 0 C for about 5-6 hours. The dried specimens were stored in homeopathic vials and labeled. The collected leafhoppers will be mounted singly on triangular card board points on right hand side of the thorax. These specimens were labeled. The label containing the information regarding locality, date of the collection, host pant and name of the collector will transfixed to the respective specimens. The abdomen will be detached from the thorax with the help of