3/2/2019 Black bug - IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank

Black bug
Three species of black bugs attack rice: common black bug, Malayan black bug and, Japanese rice black bug .

What it does?
Black bugs remove the sap of the plant. They can cause
browning of leaves, deadheart, and bugburn. Their damage
also causes stunting in plants, reduced tiller number, and
formation of whiteheads.

On severe cases, black bugs weaken the plant preventing

them from producing seeds.

Why and where it occurs

The insect is common in rainfed and irrigated wetland
environments. It prefers continuously cropped irrigated rice
areas and poorly drained fields. Damages are observed
more frequently in dry season rice crops and densely
planted fields.

Black bug flight patterns are affected by the lunar cycle; on full moon nights, large numbers of adults swarm to
light sources.

Staggered planting of the rice crop and excessive nitrogen also favor the buildup of the pest. During non-rice
periods, the presence of alternate breeding site favors population increase.

How to identify
Check leaves for discoloration. Black bug damage can cause reddish brown or yellowing of plants.
Leaves also have chlorotic lesions.
Check for decreased tillering. Bugburn symptoms show wilting of tillers with no visible honeydew
deposits or sooty molds.
Plants are also stunted; and can develop stunted panicles, no panicles, incompletely exerted panicles,
and unfilled spikelets or whiteheads at booting stage.
Check for deadhearts.

Deadhearts can also be caused by stemborer. To confirm cause of damage, pull infected plants. In black bug
damage, infected plants cannot be pulled at the bases.

Heavy infestation and "bugburn" is usually visible after heading or maturing.

Why is it important

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3/2/2019 Black bug - IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank

Black bug feeds on the rice plant from seedling to maturity

growth stages. Ten black bug adults per hill can cause
losses of up to 35% in some rice.

How to manage
To prevent black bug infestation:

Use resistant varieties.

Contact your local agriculture office for up-to-date
lists of varieties available.
Maintain a clean field by removing the weeds and
drying the rice field after plowing.
Plant rice varieties of the same maturity date to
break the insect’s cycle.
Use of mercury bulbs as light traps for egg-laying adults, light trapping of insects should start 5 days
before and after the full moon.
Encourage biological control agents, such as small wasps (parasitize the eggs), ground beetles, spiders,
crickets, and red ants (attack the eggs, nymphs, and adults), coccinellid beetles, ducks, toads (feed on
eggs and nymphs), fungi species (attacks nymphs and adults).

To control black bug infestation:

During early infestation, raise the water level in the field for 2−3 days to force the insects to move
upwards.
Flood the fields. This can cause higher egg mortality.
After harvest, plow fields to remove remaining insects.

Content expert: Jo Catindig (email: j.catindig@irri.org) and Bryce Blackman (email: b.blackman@irri.org)

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