Analysis of atmospheric circulation situation and source areas for brown planthopper immigration to Korea: a case study

Abstract

2020. Analysis of atmospheric circulation situation and source areas for brown planthopper immigration to Korea: a case study. Ecosphere 11(3):Abstract. Rice planthoppers and related viral diseases have become one of the most important factors affecting rice production in Asian countries, and the resulting abuse of pesticides is laying a hidden danger for future food security. As the most economically devastating species, the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (St al), moves from the tropical Indochina Peninsula to temperate regions where it cannot overwinter annually with the feature of long-range migration, and eventually appears in paddy fields of most East Asian countries. Compared with the overland migration that has been studied in more detail, there is relatively less understanding of N. lugens' performance in transnational movement, especially in the representative overseas migration between China and Northeast Asia. Based on the light-trap data from China and Korea and the matched meteorological data of East Asia in 2016, a typical overseas migration event was basically analyzed. The results are as follows. First, the source area of the N. lugens population in this migration was in southeastern Jiangsu and eastern Shanghai. They took off at dusk on 1 August, flying at the altitude of 1700-2200 m, and landed in southwestern Korea at 02:00-11:00 UTC on 3 August. Second, a southerly airflow belt was the main weather factor for population's overseas migration, and the confrontation between the western Pacific subtropical high and a northern high pressure in southern Korea was the main reason for population to land. Besides, we discussed the one-off feature of overseas migration compared to overland migration. These results show the close relation between weather systems and the migration dynamics of N. lugens and may extend the perception for N. lugens' behavioral chain in the long-range migration between China and Northeast Asia, thus allowing a sufficient time for reasonable and effective control measures.

Effect of the Asian monsoon on the northward migration of the brown planthopper to northern South China

“…During a large-scale insect migration, external meteorological conditions have a higher priority of influence than insects' own behavior, especially for insects with low self-propelled flight speeds (Chen et al, 1984). With the help of favorable atmospheric circulations and weather systems, migratory BPH populations are capable of moving hundreds or even thousands of kilometers (Bao et al, 2009(Bao et al, , 2018Cheng et al, 1979;Hu et al, 2017Hu et al, , 2019Kishimoto, 1976;Lu et al, 2017;National Cooperated Research Group of Brown Planthopper, 1981;Otuka, 2013;Otuka et al, 2005Otuka et al, , 2008Wu et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2020;Zhu et al, 2000).…”

“…As a small insect, the BPH has a low self‐propelled flight speed (Chen et al, 1984; Hu et al, 2007). However, eight generations of BPH (estimated based on a migration period from March to October and 30 days per generation; Otuka, 2013; Hereward et al, 2020) can complete a migration circuit of thousands of kilometers annually with the help of seasonal atmospheric circulation and weather systems, covering the Indochina Peninsula (ICP), China, Korea, Japan, and other regions (Bao et al, 2009; Cheng et al, 1979; Hu et al, 2011, 2017; Jiang et al, 1981; Lu et al, 2017; Otuka, 2013; Yang et al, 2020).…”