Some factors affecting white stem borer Scirpophaga innotata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) injury to rice

Abstract

The amount of injury to rice caused by white stem borer Scirpophaga innotata depends on cultivar, and stage of plant and insect development, as well as insect abundance. Of the cultivars tested, IR64, IR42, Cisadane and Ketan, IR64 were the most susceptible and Ketan the least susceptible to feeding damage. Third and fourth instars consumed more stem dry matter than other stages, although yield reduction depended on the number of tillers injured. On the wider stemmed Ketan, fewer tillers were injured than the narrower IR64. Larvae are more likely to move among tillers in the third instar stage, which tends to coincide with maximum tillering and may result in more tillers injured and in yield reduction. Later instar larvae burrow downwards to the internode where they pupate. Larvae appear to move less among tillers in 'resistant' cultivars. Management strategies should target this pest at third instar and when its abundance in the field warrants control. Fewer than 10% of the neonates establish successfully on stems, and this mortality needs to be taken into account when deciding on control, as does the ability of rice plants to compensate for injury.