Dependence of the Abundance of Reed Glass-Winged Cicadas ( Pentastiridius leporinus (Linnaeus, 1761)) on Weather and Climate in the Upper Rhine Valley, Southwest Germany
Sai Kiran Kakarla (),
Eric Schall,
Anna Dettweiler,
Jana Stohl,
Elisabeth Glaser,
Hannah Adam,
Franziska Teubler,
Joachim Ingwersen,
Tilmann Sauer,
Hans-Peter Piepho,
Christian Lang and
Thilo Streck
Additional contact information
Sai Kiran Kakarla: Department of Biogeophysics, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Eric Schall: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Anna Dettweiler: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Jana Stohl: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Elisabeth Glaser: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Hannah Adam: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Franziska Teubler: Center of Excellence for Climate Change Impacts, Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Forestry Rhineland-Palatinate, 67705 Trippstadt, Germany
Joachim Ingwersen: Department of Biogeophysics, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Tilmann Sauer: Center of Excellence for Climate Change Impacts, Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Forestry Rhineland-Palatinate, 67705 Trippstadt, Germany
Hans-Peter Piepho: Department of Biogeophysics, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Christian Lang: Association of Hessian-Palatinate Sugar Beet Growers e.V., Rathenaustraße 10, 67547 Worms, Germany
Thilo Streck: Department of Biogeophysics, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-26
Abstract:
The planthopper Pentastiridius leporinus , commonly called reed glass-winged cicada, transmits the pathogens “ Candidatus Arsenophonus phytopathogenicus” and “ Candidatus Phytoplasma solani”, which are infesting sugar beet and, most recently, also potato in the Upper Rhine valley area of Germany. They cause the “Syndrome Basses Richesses” associated with reduced yield and sugar content in sugar beet, leading to substantial monetary losses to farmers in the region. No effective solutions exist currently. This study uses statistical models to understand to what extent the abundance of cicadas depends on climate regions during the vegetation period (April–October). We further investigated what influence temperature and precipitation have on the abundance of the cicadas in sugar beet fields. Furthermore, we investigated the possible impacts of future climate on cicada abundance. Also, 22 °C and 8 mm/day were found to be the optimal temperature and precipitation conditions for peak male cicada flight activity, while 28 °C and 8 mm/day were the optimum for females. By the end of the 21st century, daily male cicada abundance is projected to increase significantly under the worst-case high greenhouse gas emission scenario RCP8.5 (RCP-Representative Concentration Pathways), with confidence intervals suggesting a possible 5–15-fold increase compared to current levels. In contrast, under the low-emission scenario RCP2.6, male cicada populations are projected to be 60–70% lower than RCP8.5. An understanding of the influence of changing temperature and precipitation conditions is crucial for predicting the spread of this pest to different regions of Germany and other European countries.
Keywords: reed glass-winged cicada; sugar beet; yield; Germany; climate regions; weather; climate; temperature; precipitation; climate change scenarios; generalized linear mixed models; negative binomial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/12/1323/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/12/1323/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:12:p:1323-:d:1683083
Access Statistics for this article
Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan
More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().