The BPH is distributed throughout Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Fiji, India,[2] Indonesia, Japan, North and South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[3] After settling on rice plants, they produce the next generation, where most of the female insects develop as brachypters and males as macropters.

Due to feeding by both the nymphs and adults at the base of the tillers, plants turn yellow and dry up rapidly.

[10] Excessive use of urea as nitrogenous fertilizer and insecticides can lead to outbreaks by increasing the fecundity of the brown planthopper, and by reducing populations of natural enemies.

[11][12][13] It follows that the primary integrated pest management (IPM) approach includes restricting the inappropriate and excessive use of these inputs.

For example in 2011, the Thai government announced an initiative to respond to a major brown planthoppers outbreak by restricting outbreak-causing insecticides including abamectin and cypermethrin; the decision was supported by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

[14] IRRI also outlined recommendations foe an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) action plan to limit planthopper outbreaks.

[15] In December 2011, the IRRI held a conference in Vietnam to address the threats of insecticide misuse and explore options for mitigation.

This suggests that climate warming in tropical regions with occasional extremely high temperatures would limit the survival and distribution of BPH.