Kaempfer Cicada vs Sugarcane Woolly Aphid

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Kaempfer Cicada Sugarcane Woolly Aphid
Scientific Name Platypleura kaempferi Ceratovacuna lanigera
Order Hemiptera Hemiptera
Family Cicadidae Aphididae
Size 22-28 mm 1.5-2.5 mm
Habitat Underground Farmland
Diet Sap Feeders Herbivores
Regions Japan, Korea, Eastern China South Asia (India, particularly Maharashtra and Karnataka; also Sri Lanka, Bangladesh)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

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.

Sugarcane Woolly Aphid

A small aphid covered in white woolly wax secretions that forms dense colonies on the undersides of sugarcane leaves. Heavy infestations reduce cane juice quality and sugar recovery in mills.

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Did You Know?

A major outbreak of this pest devastated the Indian sugarcane crop in 2002-2004 before biological control with parasitoid wasps brought it under control.