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Brown planthopper (BPH), a monophagous phloem feeder, consumes a large amount of photoassimilates in rice and causes wilting. A near-isogenic line ‘TNG71-<i>Bph45</i>’ was developed from the <i>Oryza sativa</i> <i>japonica</i> variety ‘Tainung 71 (TNG71) carrying a dominant BPH-resistance locus derived from <i>Oryza nivara</i> (IRGC 102165) near the centromere of chromosome 4. We compared the NIL (TNG71-<i>Bph45</i>) and the recurrent parent to explore how the <i>Bph45</i> gene confers BPH resistance. We found that TNG71-<i>Bph45</i> is less attractive to BPH at least partially because it produces less limonene. Chiral analysis revealed that the major form of limonene in both rice lines was the L-form. However, both L- and D-limonene attracted BPH when applied exogenously to TNG71-<i>Bph45</i> rice. The transcript amounts of limonene synthase were significantly higher in TNG71 than in TNG71-<i>Bph45</i> and were induced by BPH infestation only in the former. Introgression of the <i>Bph45</i> gene into another <i>japonica</i> variety, Tainan 11, also resulted in a low limonene content. Moreover, several dominantly acting BPH resistance genes introduced into the BPH-sensitive IR24 line compromised its limonene-producing ability and concurrently decreased its attractiveness to BPH. These observations suggest that reducing limonene production may be a common resistance strategy against BPH in rice.