Abstract: Laodelphax striatellus is one of the most serious rice pests in China, and its phenotype mutations possibly affect population parameters and mating. In this study, the biological characteristics of the red-eye mutant of L. striatellus were analyzed by life table method. The results showed that the red-eye mutant had no significant effects on reproduction, egg hatching duration, nymphal period, adult longevity and the intrinsic rate of increase, but the mortality in mutant planthoppers (17.1%) was significantly higher than that in wild type planthoppers (black eye) (10.3%) (P<0.05). The amount of offsprings with red-eye was more than that of expectation in the mate choice test which consisted of one red-eye female, one redeye male and one homozygous black-eye male (♀rr×♂rr♂BB), or one red-eye male, one red-eye female and one homozygous black-eye female (♀rr♀BB×♂rr). The Chi-square values were 18.15 and 14.99, respectively, in the two cross combination, and higher than the critical value. The rare male mating advantage was found when the ratio of red-eye planthoppers was 20%. These results provide a foundation to further study the red-eye mutation mechanisms and for the use of red-eye mutation as genetic marker.

Key words: Laodelphax striatellus, phenotype, red-eye mutant, population parameters, mating advantage, life table