Divisi
Mango hopper
Idioscopus spp. · Insect
Photo: Ann Lazaro · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mango hoppers (Idioscopus species) are tiny, wedge-shaped leafhoppers — no bigger than a grain of rice — and one of the most damaging pests of flowering mango. Crowds of young and adult hoppers swarm onto the flower clusters (panicles) and tender new shoots, sucking the sap and raining down sticky honeydew on which a black sooty mould then grows. When their numbers build up at flowering, the flowers dry, blacken and drop, and little or no fruit sets.
Srimv20244 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Why it matters
Mango hoppers strike the tree at its single most important moment — flowering. A heavy attack dries up the flowers before they can set fruit and can cost you up to 60% of your crop, sometimes leaving a tree almost bare. They breed fast in warm, humid weather and shelter deep in a dense canopy, so once they take hold at flowering they are hard to knock back — and the sticky black mould they leave keeps choking the leaves long after the hoppers themselves have gone. Stopping them early, as the flower shoots first appear, is far easier than trying to rescue a crop that has already dried and dropped.
When to act
several hoppers per panicle at flowering, or the first sooty mould and honeydew on emerging flower shoots
This guidance is general, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. Thresholds and timing shift with your crop, your variety and the season.
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The full mango hopper field guide
- Identify it
- Scout for it
- Control it
13 field-guide sections in the app
The full guide to mango hopper — every symptom to check, how and when to walk your field looking for it, and the controls that actually work, ranked. Built into your crop plan, so you are told to look before it costs you a harvest.
Crops it affects
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify mango hopper?
The easiest first sign is the stickiness. A shiny, sticky film — honeydew, the sweet liquid the hoppers pass out as they suck sap — coats the flower shoots, the tender new leaves and anything on the ground under the tree. Within a day or two a black, powdery sooty mould grows on that stickiness, so the panicles (flower clusters) and leaves look dusted with soot or splashed with dirty oil.
When should I take action against mango hopper?
several hoppers per panicle at flowering, or the first sooty mould and honeydew on emerging flower shoots
How do I control mango hopper?
Prevent it — open up the tree. Hoppers love a dense, shady, humid canopy, so after harvest prune and thin the tree to let light and air pour through, cutting out the soft water-sprouts (the whippy vertical shoots), the crowded inner branches and any dead wood. Don't plant your trees crowded together, keep the orchard floor weeded and clean, and start watching the panicles the moment they appear. An open, airy tree dries out fast after rain and is far less friendly to hoppers.
Which crops does mango hopper affect?
Among the crops covered here: Mango.
Catch it before it costs you a harvest
Divisi builds scouting into your crop plan — it tells you when to walk your field, what to look for at that stage, and what to do when you find it. Free for farmers, works offline.
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