Scientific name: Sophonia rufofasciata

Hawaiian Name: —

Classification: Phylum: Arthropoda. Class: Insecta. Family: Cicadellidae

Origin: Introduced sometime before 1987.

Status: Common.

Distribution: All main Hawaiian Islands except Ni‘ihau and Kaho‘olawe.

Map: —

This guy has racing stripes but is no “racing” celebrity. In fact, he is not well-liked at all. He is a sap sucker and he causes diseases in many of our native plants. Much of the dead uluhe (Card no. 15) seen along roadsides is the result of the sucking habits of this little pest. By the way: those eyespots are really his on his hind end and not on his head!