Kaempfer Cicada vs Russian Wheat Aphid

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Kaempfer Cicada Russian Wheat Aphid
Scientific Name Platypleura kaempferi Diuraphis noxia
Order Hemiptera Hemiptera
Family Cicadidae Aphididae
Size 22-28 mm 1.5-2 mm
Habitat Underground Farmland
Diet Sap Feeders Sap Feeders
Regions Japan, Korea, Eastern China Worldwide cereal-growing regions
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Kaempfer Cicada

A small cicada with cryptic bark-like coloration and a distinctive rattling call. It is named after the German naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer who studied Japanese natural history.

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Did You Know?

Known as 'niiniizemi' in Japan, it is one of the first cicadas to begin calling in early summer, heralding the start of the cicada season.

Russian Wheat Aphid

A pale elongated aphid that causes leaf rolling and white streaking on wheat and barley. It injects toxins while feeding that are uniquely damaging to cereal crops.

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Did You Know?

It caused over $1 billion in damage to U.S. wheat crops within just a few years of its arrival in 1986.