Plantwise Factsheets for Farmers

The bug is about 19 mm in length with long legs and antennae. Its body is slender and green or brown in colour. Eggs are laid on the leaves in groups of 10-20 in straight rows. Eggs are oval shaped and dark reddish brown. The nymph is slender, wingless and brownish green. As it grows up, the green colour deepens. The fully grown nymph is about 14-16 mm long.

Both adults and nymphs suck fluid from young shoots, leaves, florets and soft grains using their piercing, sucking mouth parts. As a result, whitish spots appear at the site of feeding. Black or brown spots appear around the holes made by the bugs on which sooty mould may develop. The infested grains easily break during milling.

Rice fields severely affected by the bug emit a repugnant smell, hence the name gundhi bug.

The Rice Gundhi Bug is a common and important insect pest of rice. The bugs prefer to attack milk stage grains.

• If possible, remove all weeds and grasses in and out of paddy fields to prevent population build-up of rice bugs in the following crop
• Trap adult bugs using a light trap, sweep net and dirty trap of cattle urine/dung and then destroy the traps by suitable means. Keep on hanging the cattle urine soaked gunny bag or cow dung wrapped cloth in the field, just at the height of the crop to attract the bugs.
• Synchronize rice planting to maintain simultaneous crop maturity in all fields in an area for equal distribution of bugs in all fields
• Avoid the use of chemical pesticides so that the field is a suitable environment for natural predators of rice bugs, such as tiger beetles
• If the population increases during milking stage and chemicals are required, use malathion 50% EC @ 2 ml/l of water or cypermethrin 25% EC @ 0.5 ml/l water

When using a pesticide, always wear protective clothing and follow the instructions on the product label, such as dosage, timing of application, and pre-harvest interval.