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Black bug
| Symptom of Damage : |
- Presence of bugs at the base of the stem just above the water level.
- Plants stunted with reduced number of tillers; leaves turn reddish brown and dry.
- Stunting of plant with chlorotic lesions on leaves.
- Stunted panicles, no panicles, or incompletely exerted panicles, and unfilled spikelets or whiteheads at booting.
Nature of Damage :
- Both nymphs and adult bugs remain and feed the plant sap on the base of the plants causing stunting of plants.
- Leaves turn reddish brown and grains do not develop.
- Bugs feed on the panicles in milky stage result in brown spot or empty grains in the panicles.
- Heavy bug infestation may cause death to the plants and whole field appears burned called bug burn similar to hopper burn.
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| Presence of black bugs at the base of the stem |
Chlorotic lesions on leaves |
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| Identification of pest : |
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Scientific Name - Scotinophora lurida
- Egg :
Eggs are cylindrical, greenish and laid in small groups of ten in two rows on the leaves.
- Nymph :
Young nymph is brown with yellowish green abdomen and a few black spots.
- Adult :
Adults are flat, 7-9 mm long, brownish black bugs with a prominent scutellum and pronotum having a spine on
either side. It is active on the cloudy days and during night. Adults or late nymphal stage aestivate in cracks in
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| Black bug Adult |
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| Adult |
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| Management Strategies: |
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- 10% damage at tillering stage or 5 bugs / hill.
- Maintain a clean field by removing the weeds and drying the rice field during ploughing.
- Rice varieties of the same maturity date may be planted to break the insect’s cycle.
- Direct-seeded rice crops tend to have less tillers in one planting point and thus discourage population growth.
- Flooding the fields can also cause higher egg mortality.
- Set up light trap during the full moon period to attract large number of bugs and kill.
- Conserve the predators viz Spiders, coccinellids and wasps to check the pest.
- Ducks can be allowed in the field to pick up the bugs.
- Spray acephate 625 g / ha (or) Neem seed kernal extract 5% for effective control of black bug.
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| Allow ducks to pick the bug |
Conserve predator - Spider |
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| Set up light traps |
Spray Neem Seed Kernal Extract |
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