Fine Structure of Trivial Movement in the Green Rice Leafhopper, Nephotettix cincticeps (Uhler) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

Individual movement of 29 Nephotettix cincticeps was observed to determine the fine structure of N. cincticeps movement in homogeneous environments. Movement was considered to be a series of place to place transitions, and each transition was composed of a tenure time followed by movement to a new position. Tenure time and movement distance were independent. Tenure times were independent of each other, followed a Poisson process, and their frequency distributions were identical. However, they apparently decreased with adult age. Movement distances were identically distributed, but not independent. Some individuals tended to move farther than others. From these results, it was concluded that the simple random walk and the simple diffusion model are good first approximations of N. cincticeps movement.