Rice insecticide seed treatment considerations for 2012

This article was originally published in Louisiana Farm and Ranch, February 2012. I’m reposting it here for your information. This is an important article to read as growers are making their decision about insecticide seed treatments in rice for the 2012 season.

Authors: Natalie Hummel, Associate Professor and Assistant to the Director & Mike Stout, Professor

We have had quite a few inquiries about using a combination of seed treatments, neonicotinoid and Dermacor X-100, in rice. While this practice is legal, using more than one seed treatment is not a practice that we encourage in most circumstances because it results in more insecticide use in rice production than may be necessary.

The rice industry is considering one of these combinations of seed treatments: 1) Dermacor X-100 and CruiserMaxx or 2) Dermacor X-100 and NipsitINSIDE. Typically, a combination of seed treatments is only being considered when planting rice at low seeding rates, primarily because of concerns about the lack of efficacy of CruiserMaxx and NipsitINSIDE at hybrid seeding rates (25 lbs/acre or less) that we have observed in our rice water weevil demonstration trials and small plot trials. The second scenario is where Dermacor X-100 is being used for rice water weevil management and there is a history of stand reduction because of a sporadic pest infestation, usually chinch bugs or armyworms. Combining seed treatments provides a benefit of protecting the crop from injury by some primary and sporadic crop pests.

As the rice industry moves toward a more sustainable crop production profile, the LSU AgCenter strongly encourages rice producers to be good stewards of these insecticide seed treatments. Stewardship of these seed treatments means avoiding the use of insecticides not needed in the crop. For this reason, we discourage the widespread use of a combination of insecticide seed treatments in rice. We instead encourage the person making the seed treatment decision to consider the spectrum of pests that each insecticide can control, the seeding rate, and the history of crop pests in that field.

It is important to remember that each of the seed treatments controls a different group of insects. Dermacor X-100 belongs to a class of insecticides called anthranilic diamides, which target a specific receptor in the muscle of the insect. Dermacor X-100 is registered to control rice water weevil larvae, borers (Mexican rice borer, Rice stalk borer, Sugarcane borer), armyworms and colaspis (2ee registration for suppression). CruiserMaxx and NipsitINSIDE are both neonicotinoid insecticides that affect the nervous system of target insects. CruiserMaxx is labeled to control rice water weevils (larvae and adults), chinch bugs, colaspis and thrips. NipsitINSIDE is labeled to control rice water weevils and colaspis. We do not have data to support the ability of CruiserMaxx or NipsitINSIDE to control chinch bugs, colaspis or thrips in Louisiana, but we anticipate that they will control these pests based on observations from other crops and from rice in other parts of the world. As you study these seed treatments, you can see how a combination of these products can control most of the insects that attack rice in Louisiana. This is part of the reason why there is an inclination toward using a combination of treatments.

Here are criteria for you to consider as you make your seed treatment decision. The first is the seeding rate. This needs to be considered because neonicotinoids don’t always provide good control of rice water weevils at low seeding rates. Dermacor X-100 does provide control of rice water weevils at all seeding rates, but it will not control chinch bugs or thrips. According to the chemical manufacturers, neonicotinoids do control other early season pests including chinch bugs, thrips and colaspis. Another challenge at low seeding rates is that the plant stand is thin and is less tolerant to any insects that reduce the stand by killing seedlings. Insects that can reduce the plant stand count include armyworms, chinch bugs, colaspis and thrips. Borers can infest fields after the plant is at the green ring growth stage and reduce yields by causing deadhearts and whiteheads. Remember that if you put out a combination of seed treatments for a sporadic pest and that pest doesn’t infest your field, then you didn’t need to use a combination of seed treatments. We have data that indicate that rice water weevils infest more than 90% of rice fields in Louisiana. This justifies the use of a seed treatment to control rice water weevils as part of a good IPM program. That is not the case for many of our sporadic pests (armyworms, chinch bugs, colaspis, borers, etc.), which rarely occur at levels that justify treatment. Also, keep in mind that we rarely recommend an insecticide treatment for thrips in rice; usually the damage is not severe enough to require an insecticide.

Here are a couple of situations where a combination of seed treatments may be a good management decision. If you are planting rice at a low seeding rate and you anticipate that you will have an infestation of chinch bugs that would justify a pyrethroid treatment, then a combination of seed treatments would be a good option. In this situation, you would be using Dermacor X-100 to control rice water weevils, borers and armyworms and adding a neonicotinoid to control chinch bugs or thrips. Also, if you are planting rice at conventional seeding rates and you are using a neonicotinoid seed treatment to control rice water weevils and colaspis, but you typically have problems with armyworms or borers, then you may want to apply Dermacor X-100 to your seed.

There is one more thing to consider as you make your seed treatment decisions for the 2012 season. The EPA recently approved a Section 24C (special local need) registration for use of Dermacor X-100 in water-seeded rice. If you are interested in this option, a certified seed treater can provide more information. Remember that you CANNOT use the other seed treatments (CruiserMaxx or NipsitINSIDE) in water-seeded rice. The use of CruiserMaxx and NipsitINSIDE in water-seeded rice is illegal and will not provide control of the target pests.

If you have any questions about the seed treatment options registered for use in rice, please contact your local County Agent, or Natalie Hummel (nhummel@agcenter.lsu.edu) for more information.

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The terrible trio – sugarcane beetles, chinch bugs, and colaspis – plus more bill bugs

I had more calls this week about sugarcane beetles, chinch bugs, colaspis and bill bugs in rice in Southwestern Louisiana. In the majority of these fields, no insecticide seed treatment had been applied to the seed. The best response is to bring a flood as soon as possible. If this isn’t possible, some crop advisors have reported substantial improvement in the stand following  a pyrethroid spray and holding a light flush for a couple of days.

If you’d like to see a video of a sugarcane beetle digging back into the soil after I removed it from the soil you can click here. Thanks to Extension Entomologist Kathy Flanders at Auburn University for posting the video on my behalf. I shot this video at a field we scouted with Barrett Courville and Benet Augustine last week.

After doing more research on the bill bugs we collected, we found that we have not one, but four species of bill bugs that were collected from a single field. We are doing more work to tease out the species complex that occurs in south Louisiana. If you find any bill bugs in rice please get them to your local county agent and ask them to deliver to me. You can simply throw then in a ziploc bag and kill in the freezer. Please write the farmer name (or some other way to note the field location) and date on the bag. If you can record gps coordinates and e-mail to me that would be a real help. 

Update on the LSU AgCenter rice water weevil demonstration test:

We planted our final field location in Avoyelles Parish on April 27, 2011. We have a stand of rice and will take data on the stand on May 23, 2011. The majority of our other demonstration locations are at or near permanent flood. We will be running around pulling core samples from all the locations in the middle of June. To learn more about rice water weevil biology and our sampling methods you can watch this video. 

Field meeting season will kick off soon.

Please mark the following dates on your calendar:

June 1, 2011: Rice field tour in Welsh, LA. I will post an agenda soon. I’ll be in hand to discuss rice insect management and field observations.

June 15, 2011: LSU AgCenter South Farm Tour in Crowley, LA. We will have a meeting at our rice water weevil demo test site on the Simon Farm, which will include a sponsored lunch (Special thanks to our sponsors: John Bordlee – Valent; Toby McCown – Dupont, and Josh Zaunbrecher – Syngenta). 

June 30, 2011: LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station Field Day in Crowley, LA.

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Bill bugs and chinch bugs reducing rice stands in Calcasieu Parish

 I lived in Texas for a couple of years before I moved over to Louisiana. Lately it seems that all my field calls have been pulling me back in that direction, but I haven’t managed to have an bbq yet. Although I did have a delicious BLT with egg for breakfast. I never would have thought of that combination – Cajuns truly are the most creative and talented cooks I have ever known.

 

Today we started off with the Vermilion Parish Rice Grower’s mtg at Suire’s Grocery before heading out to scout rice fields in Calcasieu Parish. We had a great turn out at the meeting. Dr. Saichuk and I discussed observations we have made so far this season. Saichuk’s comments concentrated on herbicide drift problems, the dry conditions causing all sorts of trouble and some other general issues with some varieties. I discussed the seed treatments, trouble with chinch bugs, colaspis, and what we have going for the rice water weevil demonstration this season.

 

After the meeting we headed over to Lacassine to meet Benet Augustine. Benet had called on Thursday to report some strange problems with rice – the heart of the mother tiller was dying in young rice and the dead new leaf could be easily pulled out of the plant because it was severed at the base. There also appeared to be some chewing at the base. We tried to puzzle it out over the phone. Soon after, Dr. Saichuk and Barrett Courville visited the field and found rice levee bill bugs – an application of Karate was applied before the rain storm and we could not find any living bill bugs – actually none at all – during our scouting visit today. The lack of insects caused me to be uncertain of whether the bill bugs had been responsible for the rice injury. A few fields later we found another bill bug infestation near Iowa and caught them “red-handed” causing the same injury as Benet had observed. So that mystery was solved. Following are some pictures of the bill bugs and the associated injury they can cause to seedling rice. This was my first time collecting them in a rice field. They have caused significant stand reduction at both sites – both were treated with Dermacor X-100, and both were hybrids planted following a fallow season.

  

Bill bug injury field shot. Note the thin areas in the stand.

Bill bug stand reduction in hybrid rice.

 

Bill bug feeding injury in the leaf sheath near the base of plant (the plant is upside down in this picture).

A bill bug feeding near the base of the plant – they like to be upside down for some reason.

Here is where we observed a bill bug feeding. You can see that he has his “snout” is embedded into the leaf sheath. Bill bugs belong to the beetle family Curculionidae (weevils) and are a relative of the rice water weevil. Their chewing mouthparts are found at the end of a long “snout”. The bill bug feeding appears to be injuring the heart of the tiller, causing death of the new leaf. This explains the severed end when the dead leaf is pulled out of the leaf sheath. I saw this injury last season in Calcasieu Parish but was never able to catch the culprit.

We commonly found the bill bugs burrowed in at the soil line, or about half an inch above the soil line on the plant.

We found a pair of bill bugs mating near the soil line.

Red arrow: bill bug and yellow arrow: rice water weevil adult. Demonstrating relative size by comparison to a buck knife blade.

We recommended treating with 2 oz of Karate to prevent further injury from the bill bug. This field is particularly vulnerable because of the low seeding rate. The stand is already marginal and we hope some of the plants recover from the injury. Karate was used at another field location (as described above) and it appeared to be effective.

Next we looked at a field with the most severe infestation of chinch bugs I have ever witnessed. The field of CL151 was drilled at 70 lb/acre with Dermacor X-100 and a fungicide package. The soil was moist and in some places there was standing water – from this morning’s rain storm. Unfortunately it looked like our nice rain storm this morning did nothing to decrease the chinch bug population. In the higher elevations of the field we had no trouble locating high populations of chinch bugs below the soil and feeding on the roots of the plants. It was easy to spot the injury from the truck.

The “windshield view” of chinch bug injury in a field of CL151 in Calcasieu Parish.

In this field the injury was not progressing in from the edges as we typically expect with chinch bug injury (refer to posting of injury in Evangeline Parish in the 2010 field season). The consultant (Randy Verret) found it as he walked across the field and started to find patches of dead/dying plants. Upon further inspection, Randy found chinch bugs of all stages attacking the plants. The injury is clustered in patches across the field.

Healthy rice plants that are just starting to show injury, bordered by dead and dying rice plants. What is happening is the chinch bugs are moving from dead plants to healthy plants. Most of the dead plants had almost no roots left – they were easy to pull out of the ground. The chinch bugs appear to be feeding on the roots and also on the leaf sheaths near the soil line.

As we pulled up dead and dying plants, we found hordes of chinch bugs in the soil near the roots. This field was infested with all life stages of chinch bugs, ranging from nymphs to adults. Recall that chinch bugs have incomplete development – thus they shed their skin to grow to the next life stage and each stage looks different in appearance from the other. All stages feed on rice plants and have the ability to cause injury.

First instar chinch bugs are bright orange in color with a tan band on the back.

Chinch bug adult at base of plant – note the black and white color pattern that gives the appearance of an hourglass. We also found mating pairs of adults.

In light of such a severe infestation and ongoing plant death, we recommended an application of a pyrethroid as soon as possible to prevent further stand injury. After application of permanent flood this rice will be protected from rice water weevil injury by the Dermacor X-100 seed treatment. If everything was prepared to go to permanent flood immediately, that would probably be sufficient. Flooding removes the chinch bugs from the root zone of the plant, preventing further injury. In this particular field it will be about a week before permanent flood is established and I fear that the chinch bug injury could progress quickly during that time. Aggressive scouting and a quick response will hopefully save this stand from further reduction. I hoped that the rain we had this morning (in some cases near 4 inches) would halt the chinch bug problems, but as you can see here, that does not appear to be the case. Vigilant monitoring is still needed.

Tomorrow we will plant our final rice water weevil demonstration site in Avoyelles Parish.

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More insects reports from Jeff Davis and Evangeline Parish – chinch bugs, thrips, aphids, and rice water weevil adults.

I knew my phone was too quiet last week…

Today I’ve have four calls about insect problems in rice. Yesterday I ran the battery down on my phone between phone calls, e-mails and tweeting field observations. Which reminds me, if you are using twitter, you are welcome to follow me @NatHummel for field updates.

These dry conditions are exacerbating problems in drilled rice, which in many cases is dry, dry, dry. We need some rain. The wind is not helping the situation. One consultant, who has decades of experience in rice, called today to tell me he would appreciate more training in identification of uncommon insect problems – namely aphids, thrips and chinch bugs. As we shift away from water-seeded to drill-seeded rice these insects have the potential to become more common pest problems. It looks like that might be happening this year.

This blog posting will focus on many of those “secondary pests” which we happened to observe in Evangeline Parish yesterday. Before I get to that, just a quick update on what is becoming the chinch bug situation.

In Jeff-Davis Parish I have now heard of four additional locations which suffered from infestations of chinch bugs. This brings the count to about 8 to 10 sites with chinch bugs infestations. Some had been treated with Dermacor X-100, but remember Dermacor will not control chinch bugs. CruiserMaxx and NipsitInside should provide control (refer to previous postings about difference in seed treatments for more details). It has been noted that drilled hybrid rice, planted at low seeding rates, needs to be carefully scouted for chinch bugs. This is true primarily because in a field with a low seeding rate, the number of plants per acre is substantially lower than in field planted at a conventional seeding rate. When an insect (such as chinch bugs) infests a field with few plants to begin with, they can cause substantially more injury more quickly than in a field with a thicker stand.

Chinch bugs can be difficult to scout because they have a habit of hiding in cracks during the heat of the day and also because they often feed at the soil line near the base of the plant. This injury caused by feeding on the heart of the rice plant is what causes the rice to throw a red or orange leaf and eventually die from injury. To treat an infestation it is best to apply a flood or flush water across the field and then follow with a pyrethroid insecticide – this strategy drives the insects up onto the plant allowing them to be exposed to the insecticide.

You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

In Evangeline Parish we found a few chinch bugs feeding on the plants.

Chinch bug near base of rice plant.

 We also found a mating pair of chinch bugs on the soil surface between the rows.  Just to illustrate how difficult these can be to scout, can you find the chinch bugs in this picture?

Chinch bug mating pair on the soil surface.

 As I was taking pictures, they shifted position – here is a close-up.

Chinch bug mating pair.

After mating, chinch bugs will deposit eggs, from which first instar nymphs will hatch. We did see some first-instar chinch bugs near the base of the plant.  The first instars look very different from older stages – are very small and bright orange in color.  Here is a composite picture from my files for your reference – these pictures were taken in Jeff-Davis Parish a couple of years back.

 

Yesterday, Anna and I took stand data at the Evangeline Parish Demo test site.  Here is the field map. (I’m in the process of building LSU AgCenter websites for each of the test sites, but suddenly time at my desk is precious and rare). The field is located between Ville Platte and Vidrine at these GPS coordinates: 30°41’42.66″N, 92°24’23.80″W. The plots are flagged with colored flagging according to treatment.

The variety XL745 was planted at a 25 pound/acre seeding rate on March 21, 2011.  First emergence was noted on April 5, 2011. Yesterday, we visited the site two weeks after emergence to take observations on the stand. At this location we are comparing the three seed treatments (CruiserMaxx, Dermacor X-100 and NipsitInside) to an untreated check.

In general, there does not appear to be a significant difference between treatments, but the untreated cuts do not look quite as vigorous.  We will wait to summarize all the stand count data from all sites before making definitive statements about any effect of seed treatments on the stand vigor. Following is a series of field shots comparing the treated strips.

 

Plants grown from Dermacor X-100 treated seed to the left and CruiserMaxx treated seed to the right.

Plants grown from NipsitInside treated seed to the left and Dermacor X-100 treated seed to the right.Plants grown from untreated seed (fungicide only) to the left and NipsitInside treated seed to the right.

Plants grown from Dermacor X-100 treated seed to the left and untreated seed to the right.

Plants grown from NipsitInside treated seed to the right and Dermacor X-100 treated seed to the left.

Plants grown from CruiserMaxx treated seed to the left and NipsitInside treated seed to the left.

Plants grown from untreated seed to the left and CruiserMaxx treated seed to the right.

As we walked across the field site we noticed many fire ants and also parasitoid wasps, which led us to believe there must have been some insects in the field that these predators/parasitoids were consuming.  Sure enough, after some searching we started to find aphids, thrips and chinch bugs.  None are present at levels that are causing noticeable injury in the plots, but we will certainly keep an eye on the populations.

 

Fire ants foraging in the Evangeline Parish test site field.

In this situation, the fire ants are helping us by eating some of the insects that are attacking the rice – including aphids, thrips, and possibly chinch bugs. Of course, they also took a couple of bites out of me  as I was attempting to take picture in the windy conditions at the field. 

Fire ant foraging for insects infesting a rice plant - in this case, it looked like it was searching for thrips.

 

Thrip on a datasheet after it hopped off a rice plant. The datasheet is printed in 10 pt font, so you can see the miniscule size of the thrip adult.

Thrip adult on a rice plant leaf blade - we commonly found them on the blade or in the leaf sheath area. It appeared that feeding injury was causing discoloration on the sheath, but this was not confirmed.

 

We found a few aphids on some of the plants. It is likely that populations would be higher if they were not being attacked by ladybugs.

Ladybugs were also present in the field eating the aphids.

 The herbicides had not gone out yet, they will probably go out today, and so we took a few moments to enjoy a sweet gift of nature – wild blackberries on the edge of the field.

Anna picking blackberries during lunch break – ah the sweet rewards of field work…

Tomorrow we will make some site visits in Jeff-Davis where possible colaspis injury has been reported. In the afternoon, we will head to St. Landry Parish to take stand counts at our demonstration site.

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More chinch bugs and a reminder about pest spectrum of rice insecticide seed treatments

This morning I received another call about chinch bugs infesting seedling rice – this is the fourth call I’ve had this season, so I want to remind field scouts to be on the look-out for this pest. So far they have been reported in Jeff-Davis, Evangeline and St. Landry Parishes. Chinch bugs can quickly move in and reduce a stand of rice. Click here to read more about chinch bugs and the damage they can cause to a rice field. Rapid identification and a prompt response are key to minimize the impact of a chinch bug infestation.

In one case, there was a minsconception that Dermacor X-100 would control chinch bugs. While these new chemistries provide excellent control of rice water weevil larvae, they are often limited in their ability to control other insects. Keep in mind that each of the seed treatments controls a specific group of pests. 

Below is a list of the available seed treatments registered for use in Louisiana rice production and which pests they can control (or at least suppress):

CruiserMaxx & NipsitInside should control infestations by the following:

• Rice water weevil larvae
• Rice water weevil adults – suppression
• Chinch bugs
• Colaspis larvae
• Thrips
• Aphids

CruiserMaxx and NipsitInside will not control infestations by the following:

• Fall armyworms
• Stem borers
• Seed midge
• Rice leafminer
• South American rice miner
• Stink bugs attacking late-season 
• Spider mites

Dermacor X-100 should control infestations by the following:

• Rice water weevil larvae
• Rice water weevil adult – minimal suppression
• Colaspis larvae – suppression
• Fall armyworms
• Stem borers
• Rice leafminer
• South American Rice Miner
• Seed midge (although this should not be a problem in drill-seeded rice)

Dermacor X-100 will not control infestations by the following:

• Chinch bugs
• Thrips
• Aphids
• Late-season stink bugs
• Spider mites

To learn more about identification of the different insects that attack rice, please visit the LSU AgCenter Rice Insect Identification guide by clicking here.

You can read more about the seed treatment options by viewing the presentation I gave at the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association Meeting in Feb 2011.  It is can be downloaded by clicking here.

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2009 Louisiana rice insect survey – part one

If you reach way back in your memory, some of you may remember completing the 2009 Louisiana rice insects survey at one of the winter production meetings back in January or February of this year.  The surveys were distributed in Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas this year.  Anna and I have recently completed a summary of the responses and I’ll use this series of posts to provide an overview of a few observations.  Keep in mind that the trends reported in this posting relate to the 2009 production season, not the 2010 production season.  We will distribute a survey about the 2010 production season at the winter meetings in January.

Participants from the circled Louisiana parishes completed our survey.

184 survey sheets were processed from the following states: Louisiana (146), Texas (47), Missouri (5), Mississippi (2), and Arkansas (1).  In Louisiana, respondents from the following parishes completed surveys: Acadia, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Evangeline, Franklin, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Point Coupee, Rapides, Richland, St. Landry, and Vermilion (see map above).  

We would like to thank all rice industry members who participated in this survey and helped to distribute the survey sheets. This survey was supported in part by the Louisiana Rice Research Board and the Southern Region Integrated Pest Management Program.

My comments will mostly be confined to the Louisiana responses at this time.  The demographics of the participants in Louisiana was broken down as follows: rice farmers (79%), consultants (12%), dealers (7%), and others (10%, e.g. county agents, researchers, manufacturer representatives, marketing managers and land owners).  The length of time that repondents have been involved with rice production varied from less than five to more than forty years, with the greatest percentage (18%) with 26 to 30 years of experience.  Approximately 76% of the survey respondents farmed or consulted on less than 2500 acres of rice in the 2009 production season.

The first series of questions related to insect infestations which were severe enough to warrant an insecticide treatment.  92% of Louisiana respondents reported that they had some fields that required treatment for rice water weevils.  88% of the respondents reported problems with rice stink bugs.  While fewer people reported infestations of grasshoppers (24%), armyworms (24%), and chinch bugs (23%).  The next most commonly reported insects were the rice leafminer (12%), stalkborers (11%) and colaspis (11%).  Less than 10% of repsondents reported infestations of rice seed midge, aphids, rice levee bill bug, or south American rice miner that warranted an insecticide treatment. 

We asked more detailed questions about rice water weevil management strategies.  A large portion of our time is dedicated to rice water weevil management because this insect traditionally causes the most significant damage to Louisiana rice production from season to season.

In both the 2008 and the 2009 production season survey, we asked the following question:

If rice water weevils were a problem in your rice field(s), which method did you use to control or prevent a rice water weevil infestation? Note that respondents could choose more than one answer since they are completing a survey that relates to more than one production field.  That will explain why the total response does not equal 100%.

In 2008, among 163 respondents in Louisiana, the most common method used to control or prevent rice water weevil was drained field (43%).

In 2009 among 130 respondents in Louisiana, the most common method used to control or prevent rice water weevil was Dermacor X-100 seed treatment (52%).  In 2009, this was the only seed treatment available for use in rice.

Method used to control rice water weevil in Louisiana rice fields	2008 Percentage (%)	2009 Percentage (%)
Drained field	43	34
Post-flood treatment with a foliar spray of pyrethroid	39	44
Pre-flood treatment with a foliar spray of pyrethroid	36	37
Pre-flood treatment with a pyrethroid impregnated on fertilizer	21	22
Post-flood treatment with Trebon	20	10
Early planting to avoid infestation	18	31
Dermacor X-100 Seed Treatment	17	52
Pre-flood and Post-flood treatment with a pyrethroid	13	N/A
Delayed application of permanent flood	13	27
Pre-flood treatment with Trebon	9	7
Nothing	6	7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a decrease in the percentage of respondents who reported that they drained a field for weevil management while their was a substantial increase in the adoption of seed treatments and cultural practices (early planting and delayed application of permanent flood) which should result in decreased weevil injury.

The next installation in this series of blog posts will focus on questions related to rice stink bug management.  Do these observations reflect what you experienced in the 2009 or 2010 production seasons?

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Chinch bugs in Evangeline Parish rice

Today we met with Mr. BD Fontenot to gather cores from a test site in Evangeline Parish.  BD identified the test plots for us and then headed out to scout fields.  Before he left, he received a call reporting that rice, which was happy and healthy last week, had suddenly started to die on one edge of the field.  BD scouted the field and called to report excessive chinch bug populations and injury.  This is an 85 acre field of CL151 planted on April 17, 2010 that is just starting to tiller.  The damage is pretty severe, but quick action will probably save the rest of the field.

Chinch bugs marching across the field from the edge.

Fallow field, dying weeds on levee and infested field. Most likely the chinch bugs moved from the dying grasses into the growing rice.

Dehydrated and dying plants were occassionally found near healthy plants that were starting to dehydrate. This was commonly found on the advancing edge of the infestation.

The brown specks on the plants are chinch bug nymphs and adults. We saw upwards of 30 chinch bugs per plants.

Chinch bugs clustered onto a rice plant - they prefer the shady side. The sun was nearly due overhead when we scouted, but it was still fairly cool out so they were up on the plants.

We also found nymphs near the soil line. This tendency to feed at the base of the plant and on growing points is what causes rice to stunt and die as a result of chinch bug injury.

Adult chinch bugs have a black and white hour glass pattern on their wings. We found a few adults, but the majority were third to fourth instar nymphs.

BD plans to apply Karate with the second application of Newpath and then bring on permanent flood as soon as possible.  Water was already moving into one of the cuts.

Applying a flood or flush to the field should help this problem, but in this case the population is large enough to warrant a pyrethroid application.

Field crew members Tiffany, Nick and Lukas sweeping for chinch bugs.

If you suspect you have a chinch bug problem, it is best to sweep using a net early in the morning to scout the field.  Later in the day, when it is warm, the chinch bugs will move into the soil cracks and can be extremely difficult to find.  Symptoms of chinch bug damage using include a red to orange leaf, in this field most of the plants that were injured were already starting to die.  I didn’t notice the same typical red/orange leaf that you will see in older rice.

Hopefully Karate in application with a permanent flood will prevent further damage.  Today I also had reports of more fields with thrips damage in St. Landry Parish and more rice water weevil injury.  The insects don’t seem to mind this warm, dry weather.

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