Rice: 27 insect pests to watch

Brown planthopper

Nilaparvata lugens

kayumangging hanip, kayumangging ngusong kabayo

Photo: no rights reserved (CC0 1.0)

How to identify it

• Eggs: white, crescent-shaped, inserted into the leaf sheath or midrib in small groups; two dark eye-spots appear before hatching.
• Nymphs: creamy white turning brown, up to about 3 mm, found at the base of tillers near the water.
• Adults: brown, about 4 mm; long-winged and short-winged forms. They cluster at the base of the plant, not on the leaves.

Damage

• Sap feeding at the base of tillers; leaves turn orange-yellow then brown and dry ("hopperburn"), often in circular patches.
• Honeydew and sooty mould at the base of plants.
• Transmits rice ragged stunt and rice grassy stunt viruses (no cure).

Prevention

• Plant resistant varieties (ask your municipal agriculture office for current ones).
• Remove weeds in and around the field.
• Apply nitrogen in splits, not too much.
• Avoid early, routine insecticide sprays.
• Flood seedbeds for a day so only seedling tips show; sweep small seedbeds with a net.

Natural enemies

• Spiders, mirid bugs (Cyrtorhinus), water striders, ladybirds, damselflies and egg parasitoids. If natural enemies outnumber planthoppers, the risk of hopperburn is low.

When to act

• Action threshold: more than 1 planthopper per tiller (stem), and planthoppers outnumber natural enemies (IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank: Planthopper)
• Alert level: 3-5 per tiller is considered high (Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds: Rice brown planthopper)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

White-backed Planthopper

Sogatella furcifera

puting likod ngusong kabayo

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Tim Parker, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Adults: small planthopper with a distinct pale (white) stripe down the middle of the back between the wings; long-winged forms common.
• Nymphs: pale, feed at the lower parts of the plant with brown planthopper.

Damage

• Sap feeding causes yellowing and, at high numbers, hopperburn and drying of the crop.

Prevention

• As for brown planthopper: resistant varieties, weed control, balanced nitrogen, no early routine sprays.

Natural enemies

• The same natural enemies as brown planthopper.

When to act

• Action threshold: more than 1 planthopper per tiller (all planthopper species together), and more planthoppers than natural enemies (IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank: Planthopper)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Nephotettix virescens

berdeng ngusong kabayo (green leafhoppers)

Photo: (c) Sagnik Dutta Roy, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Eggs: white to pale yellow, inside leaf sheaths or midribs.
• Nymphs: yellow to pale green, with or without black markings.
• Adults: pale green leafhopper, often with black markings on the wings; feeds on the upper parts of the plant and on the upper leaf surface.

Damage

• Main importance: spreads tungro virus (stunted, yellow-orange plants with few tillers), also yellow dwarf.
• Direct sap-feeding damage is usually minor.

Prevention

• Plant tungro-resistant varieties.
• Synchronise planting with neighbours; at most two rice crops per year.
• Transplant seedlings older than 3 weeks.
• Avoid planting at the peak of leafhopper flights (light-trap records help).
• Use the Leaf Color Chart to avoid excess nitrogen.
• Control grassy weeds on bunds.

Natural enemies

• Egg parasitoid wasps, mirid bugs, spiders, damselflies, veliid bugs and fungal pathogens.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Green Rice Leafhopper

Nephotettix nigropictus

berdeng ngusong kabayo (green leafhoppers)

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) AnnLazaro, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How to identify it

• Green leafhopper; adults pale green, the wings often with black markings (see the reference photos).

Damage

• Sap feeding; can carry rice viruses.

Prevention

• Same practices as for N. virescens: resistant varieties, synchronous planting, balanced nitrogen, weed control.

Natural enemies

• Same natural enemies as other green leafhoppers.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• Green leafhopper; one of the two species named by IRRI as tungro vectors.

Damage

• Spreads tungro.

Prevention

• As for N. virescens.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Zig-zag Winged Rice Leafhopper

Maiestas dorsalis

Photo: (c) Mitul and Vijul Singh, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Eggs: white, laid singly in leaf sheaths.
• Nymphs and adults: yellowish brown; adults have a zigzag pattern on the wings and sit in the upper parts of the plant.

Damage

• Leaf tips dry; whole leaves turn orange and the margins curl.
• Can transmit tungro, dwarf and orange leaf viruses, but usually occurs in low numbers (minor pest).

Prevention

• Remove volunteer rice and grassy weeds between crops.

Natural enemies

• Mymarid wasps and mirid bugs (eggs), dryinid wasps and pipunculid flies (nymphs and adults), spiders.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Rice Ear Bug

Leptocorisa oratoria

Photo: (c) Ken Puliafico, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Eggs: oval, shiny, reddish brown, in rows along the leaf midrib.
• Nymphs and adults: slender, long-legged, brown-green bugs on the panicles; give off a strong, offensive smell.

Damage

• Suck the milky contents of developing grains: small, shrivelled, spotty or empty grains and upright panicles.
• Can reduce yield by up to about 30%.

Prevention

• Remove weeds during fallow periods.
• Level fields and fertilise evenly so the crop flowers at the same time; synchronous planting in the village.
• Net-catch bugs early morning or late afternoon when numbers are low.

Natural enemies

• Some wasps, grasshoppers and spiders attack rice bugs or their eggs; indiscriminate spraying causes resurgence.

When to act

• Action threshold: more than 10 rice bugs per 20 hills (IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank: Rice bug)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Paddy Bug

Leptocorisa acuta

Photo: (c) Andrew Allen, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Slender green-brown rice bug, very similar to L. oratoria; smells when disturbed.

Damage

• Same as L. oratoria: empty and discoloured grains from feeding at the milk stage.

Prevention

• Same as L. oratoria.

When to act

• Action threshold: more than 10 rice bugs per 20 hills (IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank: Rice bug)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Scotinophara coarctata

itim na atangya

Photo: (c) Claas Damken, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How to identify it

• Nymphs and adults: dark, shield-shaped stink bugs feeding at the base of the plant (see reference photo).
• Adults fly to lights in large numbers, especially on full-moon nights.

Damage

• Leaves turn reddish brown or yellow with chlorotic lesions; fewer tillers; deadhearts; stunted or no panicles; whiteheads at booting.
• Heavy infestations cause "bugburn", usually visible after heading. About 10 adults per hill can cut yield by up to 35%.

Prevention

• Resistant varieties.
• Keep fields weed-free; dry the field after ploughing.
• Plant varieties of the same maturity, synchronously.
• Light traps for egg-laying adults from 5 days before to 5 days after full moon.
• After harvest, plough to remove remaining bugs.
• Early in an infestation, raise the water level for 2-3 days so the bugs move up; flooding also kills eggs.

Natural enemies

• Egg wasps, ground beetles, spiders, crickets, red ants, ladybirds, ducks, toads and fungi.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Rice Yellow Stem Borer

Scirpophaga incertulas

dilaw na aksip

Photo: (c) Paolo Co, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Egg masses: on leaves, covered with buff hairs from the female.
• Larva: pale, bores inside the stem.
• Adult moth: female larger (wingspan about 34 mm), yellowish with a black dot on each forewing; male smaller and browner.

Damage

• Vegetative stage: deadheart (central tiller dies and pulls out easily).
• Reproductive stage: whitehead (white, empty panicle).
• Small holes and frass in stems.
• Can cause about 20% loss in early-planted and up to 80% in late-planted crops.

Prevention

• Resistant varieties; synchronous planting.
• Hand-pick egg masses in the seedbed and at transplanting; clip seedling leaf tips before transplanting.
• Raise water periodically to submerge eggs on lower plant parts.
• Harvest at ground level, remove stubble and volunteer rice, plough and flood after harvest.
• Split nitrogen applications.

Natural enemies

• Many egg parasitoids (Trichogramma and others), plus ants, ladybirds, staphylinid beetles, crickets, spiders and fungi.

When to act

• Action threshold: 5% deadhearts at the early (initial) stage; reported as 25% at flowering and 10% at ripening (Litsinger et al. (2006) Evaluation of action thresholds for chronic rice insect pests in the Philippines. IV. Stemborers. Int. J. Pest Management 52:195-207)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• White stem borer: adult moth white; larva bores in the stem like other stem borers.

Damage

• Deadhearts and whiteheads; important in rainfed wetland rice and can cause outbreaks.

Prevention

• As for yellow stem borer.

When to act

• Action threshold: 5% deadhearts at the early stage (stem borers) (Litsinger et al. (2006) Evaluation of action thresholds for chronic rice insect pests in the Philippines. IV. Stemborers. Int. J. Pest Management 52:195-207)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• Eggs: flat, scale-like, in overlapping rows.
• Larva: grey-white with a black head when young; full-grown larvae have dark stripes along the body.
• Adult moth: wingspan about 18-20 mm, straw to orange-brown forewings sprinkled with dark scales.

Damage

• Deadhearts and whiteheads; can cause very high losses when severe.

Prevention

• As for yellow stem borer: synchronous planting, remove stubble, split nitrogen.

When to act

• Action threshold: 5% deadhearts at the early stage (stem borers) (Litsinger et al. (2006) Evaluation of action thresholds for chronic rice insect pests in the Philippines. IV. Stemborers. Int. J. Pest Management 52:195-207)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Dark headed striped borer

Chilo polychrysus

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Sagnik Dutta Roy, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Dark-headed striped stem borer: moth wingspan 16-25 mm, yellow-brown wings with small dark spots; larva bores rice stems.

Damage

• Deadhearts and whiteheads like other stem borers.

Prevention

• As for other stem borers.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Purple Stem Borer

Sesamia inferens

mala rosa na aksip

Photo: (c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Larva: smooth, without hairs, cream with a pink tinge and a brown head; 30-40 mm when grown.
• Adult moth: wingspan about 28 mm, straw-coloured with reddish-brown streaks; hindwings whitish.
• Eggs are laid bare between the leaf sheath and stem.

Damage

• Deadhearts and whiteheads in rice; also attacks corn and sugarcane.

Prevention

• As for other stem borers; keep rice away from sugarcane where possible.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Rice Leaf-roller

Cnaphalocrocis medinalis

magbibilot, maniniklop

Photo: (c) Forest Botial-Jarvis, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Eggs: flat, disc-shaped, laid singly.
• Larva: green caterpillar living inside a leaf it has folded and tied with silk.
• Adult: small moth, yellowish-brown wings with dark bands; hides in shade by day.

Damage

• Long white, transparent streaks on leaves where the larva has eaten the green tissue; folded leaves.
• Heavily attacked fields look scorched. Damage matters most when it hits the flag leaf and the next two leaves.

Prevention

• Resistant varieties; rotate or leave a fallow; avoid ratooning.
• Remove grassy weeds; avoid very dense planting; balanced fertiliser.
• Do not spray early in the crop: young rice recovers, and early sprays cause planthopper outbreaks.

Natural enemies

• Many parasitoids and predators keep leaffolders down when not disturbed by sprays.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Cnaphalocrocis patnalis

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Cheryl Stinchcomb, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• A rice leaffolder very similar to C. medinalis (see reference photos); feeds on rice and many grasses.

Damage

• Folded leaves and white feeding streaks, as for C. medinalis.

Prevention

• As for C. medinalis.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Northern armyworm

Mythimna separata

arabas, harabas, tagustos (names used for armyworms)

Photo: (c) Possums' End, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Larva: up to about 40 mm, with dark and pale stripes along the body.
• Adult moth: wingspan 35-50 mm, greyish-yellow forewings with a small white point on the kidney-shaped spot.
• Eggs are laid in masses of hundreds.

Damage

• Caterpillars eat leaves from the tips and margins, leaving midribs; can cut seedlings at the base and cut panicles. They move in large groups during outbreaks.

Prevention

• Flood seedbeds (best defence in rice).
• Seedbeds away from large weedy areas; plough fallow land; remove weeds.
• Trenches with ash around fields; branches as hiding places for hand-collection.

Natural enemies

• Wasps and spiders; avoid killing them.

When to act

• Action threshold: 1 larva per plant (maize, India) (Govt. of India (NCIPM, DPPQ&S, NIPHM, 2014): IPM package for Maize)

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Lawn Armyworm Moth

Spodoptera mauritia

arabas, harabas (names used for armyworms)

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: no rights reserved (CC0 1.0)

How to identify it

• Rice swarming caterpillar: moth about 40 mm wingspan, dark grey-brown; caterpillars feed in groups.

Damage

• Leaves cut off, seedlings cut at the base; large groups move from field to field.

Prevention

• Flood seedbeds; remove weeds; plough fallow land.

Natural enemies

• Wasps and spiders.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• Eggs: elongated, white, glued to leaves.
• Larva (maggot): legless, transparent to cream when young, yellow when mature; inside the unopened central leaf.
• Adult: small fly resting on leaves near the water.

Damage

• Yellow spots, white or transparent patches and pinholes along the inner margin of leaves as they unfold; leaves break easily; some stunting.

Prevention

• No cultural control is known. Insecticides are not recommended: the plant compensates and symptoms usually disappear by maximum tillering.

Natural enemies

• Parasitic wasps, dolichopodid flies, ephydrid flies and spiders.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• Adult: bluish-black beetle about 5 mm long covered with long spines.
• Larva: pale yellow, flat, mining inside the leaf.

Damage

• Adults scrape the upper leaf surface leaving white streaks parallel to the midrib; larvae tunnel and make irregular translucent patches. Badly attacked fields look burnt.

Prevention

• Do not over-fertilise.
• Cut shoot tips to remove eggs; clipping and burying shoots in mud reduces grubs.

Natural enemies

• Egg and larval wasps, a reduviid bug, fungal pathogens.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Rice Case Bearer

Parapoynx stagnalis

mambibilot, uod na nasa supot

Photo: (c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Larva lives in a tube cut from rice leaves; cases float on the water or cling to leaf sheaths.
• Adult: whitish moth with pale brown wavy lines, attracted to lights.
• Published by IRRI and PhilRice as Nymphula depunctalis.

Damage

• Leaf tips cut at right angles as if with scissors; ladder-like scraped leaf tissue; seedlings may die.

Prevention

• Drain the field (the larvae need water).
• Transplant older seedlings; wider spacing (e.g. 30 x 20 cm); correct fertiliser.

Natural enemies

• Snails eat eggs, water beetles eat larvae, spiders, dragonflies and birds eat adults.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Common Evening Brown

Melanitis leda

Photo: (c) Cheongweei Gan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Green-horned caterpillar: yellow-green larva with two horns on the head, blends with rice leaves.
• Adult: brown evening butterfly with eye-spots on the wings.

Damage

• Eats leaf margins and tips. Usually a minor pest; natural enemies normally control it and the plant recovers.

Prevention

• No action usually needed; protect natural enemies.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Small Branded Swift

Pelopidas mathias

Photo: (c) Cheongweei Gan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Rice skipper: larva rolls or ties leaves into a shelter and feeds at night.
• Adult: olive-brown skipper butterfly with small pale spots; fast, darting flight.

Damage

• Leaf tissue eaten, leaves rolled; usually minor and rarely causes yield loss.

Prevention

• No action usually needed; natural enemies control it.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Spine-kneed Grasshopper

Oxya hyla

balang, lukton

Photo: (c) Forest Botial-Jarvis, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Short-horned grasshopper; yellow and brown nymphs and adults on the foliage; eggs laid in pods in soil.

Damage

• Large parts of leaf edges eaten; panicles cut; nymphs eat seedlings.

Prevention

• Flood stubble, shave bunds, sweep along bunds; pick adults at night when sluggish.

Natural enemies

• Wasps, flies, nematodes, fungi, birds, frogs and spiders.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Migratory Locust

Locusta migratoria

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) William Harland, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Oriental migratory locust: large grasshopper; swarms during outbreaks, usually after drought.

Damage

• Feeds on leaves and cuts panicles; swarms can strip fields.

Prevention

• Report swarms to the municipal agriculture office immediately.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

How to identify it

• Adults: dark brown, about 1 mm, inside rolled leaves; larvae yellow.

Damage

• Silvery streaks or yellow patches; leaves curl from the margin; tips wither. Worst in the dry season on young plants.

Prevention

• Resistant varieties.
• Flood the field for two days to submerge thrips.

Natural enemies

• Predatory thrips, ladybirds, anthocorid bugs, staphylinid beetles.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Oriental Mole Cricket

Gryllotalpa orientalis

Photo: (c) Casey Clark G. Sumalinog, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

How to identify it

• Plump yellowish-brown cricket about 20 mm long with shovel-like front legs for digging; lives in burrows (heaps of soil at entrances).

Damage

• Feeds on seeds, roots and stems at the base: missing plants and poor stand in patches.

Prevention

• Keep standing water; flood for 3-4 days and level fields.
• Avoid raised nurseries.
• Collect crickets during land preparation.

Natural enemies

• Sphecid wasps, carabid beetles, nematodes and fungi.

When to act

No published threshold found yet; set one for your farm in the ENTOCULA field map.

Insecticide only as a last resort, when monitoring shows the threshold is reached and natural enemies are not keeping up. Use only FPA-registered products for this crop and pest, at label rate, with protective equipment, and respect the pre-harvest interval. Rotate insecticide groups to slow resistance.

Plant bug

Cyrtorhinus lividipennis

Photo: (c) AnnLazaro, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sucks planthopper and leafhopper eggs and eats young nymphs. Each female lays up to 250 eggs inside plant stems.

Recognise it

• Small, light green, elongated mirid bug with a black head and thorax; moves quickly.

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides; if natural enemies outnumber planthoppers, IRRI advises not to spray.

Pond Wolf Spider

Pardosa pseudoannulata

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

A key predator of planthoppers and leafhoppers in rice fields.

Recognise it

• Wolf spider (see reference photos).

Protect it

• Avoid early-season sprays; spiders are among the first natural enemies to be lost.

Discolored Lady Beetle

Micraspis discolor

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: no rights reserved (CC0 1.0)

Ladybirds feed on planthoppers, aphids and small larvae in rice and corn.

Recognise it

• Ladybird beetle (see reference photos); smooth wing cases, unlike the hairy leaf-eating 28-spotted beetle.

Protect it

• Do not confuse with the leaf-eating 28-spotted beetle, which is hairy and dull.

Small Transverse Ladybird Beetle

Coccinella transversalis

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Joan Evangelista, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

Predator of aphids and other small insects.

Recognise it

• Transverse ladybird: orange-red with black transverse bands and spots.

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum sprays; keep flowering plants near fields.

Ophionea nigrofasciata

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: no rights reserved (CC0 1.0)

Ground beetles (carabids) prey on leaffolder and stem borer larvae and black bugs.

Recognise it

• Ground beetle (see reference photo).

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum sprays.

Paederus fuscipes

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Ong Jyh Seng, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

Rove (staphylinid) beetles prey on small insects in rice and corn.

Recognise it

• Rove beetle (see reference photos).

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum sprays.

Variable Wisp

Agriocnemis femina

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Gabriel, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

Damselflies catch leafhoppers and planthoppers.

Recognise it

• Small, thin damselfly that flies low among rice plants.

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum sprays.

Microvelia douglasi

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Timur Kalininsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

Veliid bugs and water striders eat planthoppers and leafhoppers that fall on the water.

Recognise it

• Tiny water bug (veliid) running on the water surface between rice hills.

Protect it

• Keep water in the field during the vegetative stage; avoid broad-spectrum sprays.

Tetragnatha keyserlingi

Limited sources so far. Check with your municipal agriculturist.

Photo: (c) Rainer Breitling, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY 4.0)

Catches flying insects including leafhoppers and moths.

Recognise it

• Long-jawed spider with a long thin body; builds orb webs in grass and rice.

Protect it

• Avoid broad-spectrum sprays.