is a key regulator for the dimorphism of wings, a main cause for the outbreak of planthoppers in rice.

Rice planthoppers, the most devastating rice pests, occur in two wing forms: the short-wing form for rapid population growth and long-wing form for long-distance migration, which together create the mechanism for outbreak. Here we show that ( is a key regulator for switching between the long- and short-wing forms of rice planthoppers. is expressed in both forewing and hindwing pads, which is different from the canonical model of expression. In brown planthoppers, expression of () is regulated by nutritional status of the rice host. High-quality young plants induce expression leading to the short-wing form; low-quality ripe plants reduce expression resulting in long-wing form. We also showed that is regulated by the insulin receptors NlInR1 and NlInR2. The default expression of inhibits resulting in long-wings, while high-quality hosts induce expression, which represses thus promoting expression to produce short-wings.