Abstract:  【Aim】The previous studies demonstrated that there was a slight difference in aedeagus morphology between the tea green leafhopper from Pu′er tea gardens in Yunnan Province, Southwest China and Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii from tea gardens in other provinces although the highly similar morphological characteristics. In order to provide a scientific basis for the control of the tea green leafhoppers in Yunnan, this study was carried out to determine whether the species of the tea green leafhoppers occurring in Yunnan tea gardens is E. (M.) onukii. 【Methods】Tea green leafhopper samples were collected from 13 tea gardens in 11 districts/counties of four cities in Yunnan Province, and E. (M.) onukii samples were collected from one tea garden in Guizhou Province and two tea gardens in Zhejiang Province. The morphological observations, comparisons of the COI gene sequences, and hybridization experiments were used to identify the species of the tea green leafhoppers in Yunnan tea gardens.【Results】The ventro-basal side of the male aedeagal shaft of the tea green leafhoppers from 13 tea gardens in Yunnan had a spiny protuberance, but there was no such characteristic in E. (M.) onukii samples from Guizhou and Zhejiang. The COI gene sequences of tea green leafhoppers from 13 tea gardens in Yunnan showed 99.35%-99.74% identity with those of E. (M.) onukii on NCBI. The pairwise genetic distance of tea green leafhoppers from 16 collecting localities ranged from 0.000 to 0.011. The cluster analysis of haplotype abundance showed that the samples from Yunnan formed a separate branch while those from Guizhou and Zhejiang formed a branch. In the hybridization experiments, both female and male adults of Pu′er population in Yunnan could naturally mate with E. (M.) onukii from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and produced the fertile F₁ generation. There was no reproductive isolation between the two populations. The hatching rates, emergence rates, and nymphal duration among the F₁ generation from hybridization experiments showed no significant difference. Among the F₂ generations from self-crossing of the F₁ generations, the numbers of eggs laid per female, emergence rates, female-male ratios and nymphal duration showed no significant difference. 【Conclusion】 The species of the tea green leafhoppers from Yunnan tea gardens is E. (M.) onukii. E. (M.) onukii in tea gardens in China has evolved into multiple geographic populations with different morphological features.

Key words: Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii, Yunnan, male genitalia; COI, hybridization