International Journal of Pest Management, JulySeptember 2006; 52(3): 167 180

Evaluation of action thresholds for chronic rice insect pests in the Philippines: II. Whorl maggot and defoliators

J. A. LITSINGER1, J. P. BANDONG2, B. L. CANAPI3, C. G. DELA CRUZ2, P. C. PANTUA2, A. L. ALVIOLA2, & E. H. BATAY-AN III4
Dixon, CA, USA, 2International Rice Research Institute, Metro Manila, Philippines, 3Monsanto Philippines, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, and 4Philippine Department of Agriculture, Philippines
1

Abstract Action thresholds as insecticide decision tools were developed and evaluated against chronic vegetative stage insect pests of irrigated transplanted rice in the Philippines: whorl maggot Hydrellia philippina Ferino (Diptera: Ephydridae) and two lepidopterous defoliators, Naranga aenescens Moore and Rivula atimeta (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Through an iterative process, new threshold characters and insecticide technologies were evaluated at four sites (categorized as high and low pest density sites) over a 13-year period with the objectives of minimizing insecticide usage and maximizing farmer adoption. Characters were evaluated as to their ability to predict signicant pest densities and yield loss. Signicant differences occurred between high and low pest density sites among the best characters and monitoring methods for both pests. Earlier-planted elds were used as a forecasting tool, showing best results in the high pest density sites. Overall, most threshold characters performed well but the insecticide response was poor. Insecticide control was better with some threshold characters than others due to better timing. Seedling root soak with isofenphos was more effective than granules or foliar sprays against whorl maggot but required a decision before planting. Foliar sprays were most effective if applied twice (2 and 7 days after transplanting). The best performing characters for whorl maggot were 1 2 eggs/hill for the low pest density sites and 15 30% damaged leaves in earlier planted elds in high density sites. The best performing characters for defoliators were 10% damaged leaves monitored in earlier planted elds for high density sites and 10% damaged leaves in low density sites. Carbaryl was the most effective insecticide spray against defoliators that combined performance and relative safety.

Keywords: Pest control, irrigated rice, insecticides, decision-making, yield loss, planting date, damage pattern

1. Introduction In the Philippines rice whorl maggot, Hydrellia philippina Ferino (Diptera: Ephydridae), and the two lepidopterous defoliators, Naranga aenescens Moore and Rivula atimeta (Swinhoe)(Noctuidae), are among the rst insect pests to colonize transplanted rice crops. Damage is concentrated in the vegetative stage as their densities markedly decline after maximum tillering for reasons that differ for each pest group. Whorl maggot larvae feed internally on unfurled leaves, thus their abundance is correlated with the issuance of new tillers (Ferino 1968). As tillering declines after canopy closure, marking the end of the vegetative stage, new feeding sites become scarce. On the other hand, natural enemies, which exert a minimal inuence on the whorl maggot, rapidly rise toward the end of the vegetative stage to curtail the surface feeding defoliators (van den Berg et al. 1988). Chlorotic damage symptoms are similar between both pest groups and are thus often confused by farmers, but through training, can be distinguished, as defoliators scrape off plant tissue, whereas whorl

maggot injury causes necrosis of leaf margins (Reissig et al. 1986). Decision thresholds have been documented from surveys of rice farmers (Bandong et al. 2002), where the unit of measure is often whole elds or the presence of moths ushed while walking along dykes. The rst action threshold characters developed by researchers for both whorl maggot and defoliators were based on percentage damaged leaves with values ranging from 10 to 30% (Way et al. 1991). The aim of this study was to improve upon farmers methods by developing thresholds based on plant monitoring to derive the most effective quantiable, and statistically reliable, characters for insecticide decision-making. The type of thresholds was action thresholds (ATs) rather than economic thresholds as damage functions (Pedigo et al. 1986; Way et al. 1991) have not been developed. Selection of a character is an important component of an AT and is based either on pest damage or a pest life stage. AT characters that were tested were drawn from the most promising from farmers as well as ones we developed. It was noticed that pest abundance

Correspondence: J. A. Litsinger, 1365 Jacobs Place, Dixon CA 95620, USA. Tel: 1 707 678 9068. Fax: 1 707 678 9069. E-mail: jlitsinger@thegrid.net ISSN 0967-0874 print/ISSN 1366-5863 online 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/09670870600653337

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J. A. Litsinger et al. New ideas were tested in the following seasons trials, some coming from the farmers. Most characters were tested in multiple sites over several years. Data analysis after each season entailed comparing yield in the threshold treatments to that in the untreated control. Yield loss results were evaluated eld by eld to determine if yield loss occurred in each growth stage where thresholds were reached and benchmark losses were established. If a benchmark loss was reached but the threshold was not, the level was lowered the following season and vice versa. Another set of variables is associated with the corrective insecticide response including the chemical, dosage, and method, timing, and frequency of application. Insecticide technology likewise evolved through an iterative process. The rst goal was to achieve the minimum effective dosage whenever possible for cost savings. Foliar sprays were applied as described in (Litsinger et al. 2005). Graphs were drawn to illustrate the weekly pest abundance and degree of control compared to the untreated check in each eld (e.g., Department of Entomology 1984, 1988). Thus, if efcacy was low, adjustments were made and research was carried out to improve performance. AT treatments were assessed for a period of 1 4 weeks after treatment to measure activity, allowing ample time for the crop to recover by generating new leaves. In the tropics new leaves emerge about every 4 days during the vegetative stage, each leaf having a life of ca. 3 weeks (Yoshida 1981). Percentage control of each threshold character was calculated as the change (positive and negative) from the untreated check. A standard of 480% control was established (Litsinger et al. 1980a). 2.2. Whorl maggot thresholds Two AT characters were compared: (1) damaged leaves and (2) number of eggs per hill. Levels of damaged leaves (DL) tested included 10, 15, 25, and 30% and were consolidated during analysis into fewer characters to increase replication: e.g., 10% and 15%DL became 15%DL, likewise 25% and 30%DL became 30%DL. The egg density character was designed to achieve earlier warnings than damaged leaves with a goal to improve insecticide control. The 0.75-mm whitish eggs laid singly scattered on either side of a leaf (usually near the midrib) can be detected with a trained eye. Sampling could be quickly accomplished on a young crop due to few tillers per hill. Numbers of eggs per hill tested ranged from 0.5 (termed as 0.5E), 1 (as 1E), and 2 (as 2E). Four eggs per hill were tested for only 1 year but it became apparent this level was too high. In the analysis this character was combined under 2E. After several years testing, it was deemed necessary to nd ways to achieve even earlier warnings, and an idea borrowed from farmers (Bandong et al. 2002) was to monitor earlier-planted, neighboring elds.

increased in a community in some sites (Department of Entomology 1984) thus a strategy to improve timeliness was to monitor earlier-planted, neighboring elds rather than the target eld. Improvements were sought in the insecticide response once a threshold was reached. Foliar sprays and broadcast granules were most popular, but carbofuran granules incorporated into the paddy soil during the last harrowing before transplanting afforded protection for the rst month after transplanting (Seiber et al. 1978). Over 480% control was readily achieved at a dosage of 1 kg a.i./ha (Arceo and Heinrichs 1980), but lower dosages would be needed for farmer adoption. This is the second of a series of four papers on the development and evaluation of ATs for chronic insect pests of rice. The rst in the series (Litsinger et al. 2005) provided an overall evaluation of ATs as tools which contain an economic analysis as well as substitution of insecticide with nitrogen. Subsequent papers on leaffolders and stemborers will follow. 2. Materials and methods The study sites, research teams, and experimental design were discussed in Litsinger et al. (2005). 2.1. Action thresholds Thresholds involve a number of variables, any one of which can affect efcacy. The rst variable is a character such as an insect stage (egg or larva) or its damage symptom (damaged leaves). Second is the sampling unit and number of samples to measure the character (usually 20 hills). Third is the density of the character per sampling unit (e.g., one whorl maggot egg or one defoliator larva per hill or percentage damaged leaves). Normally a single AT character with two threshold levels for each pest group was tested each season per site, the lower of which was termed low level (e.g., one egg or larva per hill or 15% damaged leaves) and the other the high level (e.g., two eggs or larvae per hill or 30% damaged leaves). New characters were continually being developed in an iterative process to improve performance. The levels of each of these thresholds were adjusted season to season depending on performance (e.g., 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 whorl maggot eggs/hill). Generally character densities at sites with higher pest pressure and more rapid colonization rates were lowered in both the low and high level treatments and vice versa for sites with lower pest pressure and less rapid colonization rates. Lower levels were needed to respond to heavy infestations as the damage curves were steeper and earlier warning was required. Comparing two or more levels each season enabled more reliable adjustments to be made. As development of ATs was iterative there was no balanced design to test the full complement of characters and response variables in a given trial.

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators Neighboring elds (NF) were dened as the nearest two elds planted 1 2 weeks earlier than the target eld. Monitoring NF was done twice 7 days apart beginning 2 7 days after transplanting (d.a.t.). Two NF were monitored per target eld with results averaged. As farmers in irrigated areas tend to plant within 2 months of one another, such elds were readily available. NF were selected within 100 m of each other. The NF characters were tested from 10 to 30%DL (consolidated as above into NF15%DL and NF30%DL). The egg character also was tested with NF as NF0.5E, NF1E, and NF2E. Two further variations involving the egg character were tested. The rst was tested in Zaragoza where eggs were sampled from the eld itself and a decision was triggered when both the level surpassed 0.5 eggs/hill and incidence started to decline, thus the response was timed at the egg peak (termed 0.5E-pk). It was only tested at the 0.5 egg/hill level. The second variation termed trap crop (tc) involved removing 20 hills from a neighboring eld 2 3 weeks after transplanting (WT) and retransplanting them in a 1 m2 block in the cooperators eld during the interval between land preparation and transplanting. The isolated hills were thought to be attractive to ovipositing females. The seedlings were monitored for eggs at 4-day intervals beginning 3 d.a.t. Different levels (0.5, 1, and 2 eggs/hill) were evaluated and combined for analysis as 1E-tc. Foliar spraying is the most popular application method with rice farmers (Litsinger et al. 1980b), thus four of the most effective chemicals (monocrotophos, azinphos-ethyl, triazophos, deltamethrin) (Arceo and Heinrichs 1980) were compared. But as farmers rarely utilize manufacturers recommended dosages of any material (Litsinger et al. 1980b), lower dosages (0.4 kg a.i./ha) were tested (about half the manufacturers recommendation). After several seasons with below standard control, the single spray response was changed to double spraying at a 10-day interval. To reduce costs, dosages were reduced in each double application to 0.2 kg a.i./ha. Broadcasting diazinon granules into paddy water is an alternative to spraying (Pathak 1966) as is soil incorporation of carbofuran (dela Cruz et al. 1981). A further improvement in whorl maggot control involved immersing the roots of seedlings carbosulfan SP or isofenphos DS/ha for 4 24 h prior to transplanting in a plastic sheet-lined, small-bunded paddy constructed next to the seedbed. This seedling root soak method was performed for both wetbed and dapog seedlings, but like soil incorporation required early warning. 2.3. Defoliator thresholds The rst characters tested were percentage damaged leaves in the eld itself and later in NF. Both low (10%DL and NF10%DL) and high (30%DL

169

and NF30%DL) (20 30%) threshold levels were tested. As a means to achieve early warning, larval (L) densities were censused as a new character at three levels: 0.5 (0.5L), 1 (1L), and 2 (2L) larvae/hill. A higher level of 4 larvae/hill was initially tested and later combined with 2L. A clue in detecting the highly camouaged 15 25-mm long leaf-green colored larvae of both species is their characteristic defoliation injury. Another method utilized when the plants were small was to bend the rice hill and slap the foliage to dislodge the larvae which oated on the water surface for easy detection. During the rst 2 years, leaf damage from whorl maggot and defoliators was lumped together in a single %DL character. But as whorl maggot proved the more difcult to control, it required a more rigorous insecticide regime and separate threshold characters. Three insecticides were evaluated as foliar sprays against defoliators at their minimum effective dosages (0.4 kg a.i. monocrotophos/ha, 0.5 kg a.i. carbaryl/ha, and 12 g a.i. deltamethrin/ha). Monocrotophos was further tested by applying two sprays at half the dosage (0.2 kg a.i./ha each) with the second spray 10 days later. 2.4. Sampling methods Monitoring of AT characters was carried out in the threshold and untreated plots. Whorl maggot eggs were counted at 4-day intervals beginning 3 d.a.t. Defoliator larvae were monitored on a weekly basis. All sampling was on a per-hill basis from 20 hills taken in a stratied pattern. The number of tillers and leaves per hill with pest damage were recorded on those plant parts as appropriate. Percentage DL was monitored in the untreated and AT treatments on a weekly basis from 2 to 5 WT for both whorl maggot and defoliators as a standard indicator of pest density as well as to measure percentage control if insecticide were used. AT characters were judged by the percentage reduction of damaged leaves as well as yield gain over the untreated. 2.5. Threshold assessment In order to assess the outcome of each AT character, the pest infestation and yield loss were both scored against benchmark infestation levels and associated yield loss in each growth stage. Combining pest damage and yield loss into a single benchmark was necessary as yield loss could only be calculated in a given growth stage and not by pest. The method was developed in order to evaluate thresholds for each pest individually. The benchmark levels were based on Smith et al. (1988). The benchmark for both whorl maggot and defoliators for each replicate was attained if infestation levels exceeded 15% DL (for each pest) and yield loss was greater than 250 kg/ha in the vegetative stage.

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J. A. Litsinger et al. mean weekly counts 2 5 WT, and then calculated as the percentage change from the earliest eld). Regression was carried out for each site separately on a per eld basis and a signicant positive correlation would indicate a rising population over the season. 2.7. Statistical analysis Results were subjected to one-way ANOVA and regression/correlation analysis where appropriate. Treatment means were separated using the paired t-test for two variables or least signicant difference (LSD) test for more than two variables. Means are shown with standard errors of the mean (SEM) using a pooled estimate of error variance.

Four outcomes emerged: (1) if the AT was not surpassed and was not justied based on both benchmarks of yield and damage, it was scored correct not to treat, (2) if the AT was surpassed and was justied by both benchmarks it was scored correct to treat, (3) if the AT were not surpassed but was justied it was scored should have treated, and (4) if the AT were reached but was not justied it was scored should not have treated. The frequencies of these four outcomes add to 100%. Six criteria were assessed for each pests ATs: (1) most justied decisions based on the damage yield loss benchmark, (2) most percentage of correct decisions, (3) fewest incorrect should have treated decisions, (4) fewest incorrect should not have treated decisions, (5) highest ratio of errors to correct decisions to treat, and (6) highest correlation to yield gain over the untreated. The fth criterion rewarded characters that triggered moderate levels of AT decisions and in doing so made proportionally fewer errors, as distinguished from characters which had predominantly correct not to treat results. Chemical control efcacy for treated plots was measured as the percentage reduction in insect density (damaged leaves or larvae) in the treated versus the untreated plot divided by the density in the untreated plot multiplied by 100. Because each pest was monitored weekly in the threshold plots, there was an opportunity to measure the effect of applying insecticide against non-target pests, termed collateral control. Such data were analyzed in the same way as for target pest control. 2.6. Crop age and seasonal damage patterns Whorl maggot and defoliator damage patterns were constructed to describe the rates of damage as the crop aged from an expected low point early in the crop cycle to a peak sometime later. Knowledge of such patterns could indicate the minimal AT monitoring requirements in terms of timing and frequency. The crop-age damage pattern was described for each pest group and site separately from the averages of each of the four weekly sampling dates (2 5 WT) for each eld in the untreated plots. The results were then averaged over each crop. Using the same data set a second analysis was made on the effect of planting date. The hypothesis supporting monitoring earlier planted elds assumes progressively increasing pest densities from earlier to later elds over the season. Data were used from the untreated plots in the eld trials, each of which was purposely selected to achieve a range of planting dates over the breadth of each season. The number of elapsed days between the date the earliest eld was transplanted and date for each succeeding eld was calculated over all crops by site. The number of elapsed days (seasonal age) from the date the rst eld was planted to that for each successive eld was regressed against the mean damage (averaging the

3. Results 3.1. Pest densities Whorl maggot infestations averaged 15% damaged leaves across all crops over the four sites 2 5 WT (Table I). Damage levels in Zaragoza and Koronadal were twice those in the other two sites with no signicant difference between seasons within any site. Defoliator damage averaged 5%, three times less than that of whorl maggot. Defoliator incidence only surpassed that of whorl maggot in Guimba during wet seasons. As with whorl maggot, greatest defoliator densities occurred in Zaragoza and Koronadal. No seasonal differences in abundance were apparent within a site. 3.2. Crop age and seasonal damage patterns Examining crop age effects for whorl maggot, only in Zaragoza did damage show a rising trend (from 14 to 22% damaged leaves) over the entire vegetative period (Figure 1a). In Koronadal, damage had peaked by 3 WT, before declining steadily thereafter. No change in trend, either positive or negative, was noted in the other two sites. Zaragoza and Koronadal were the sites with highest damage, and it was noted that AT levels were often exceeded by 2 WT, the earliest date that damage is expressed. Similar at damage patterns over increasing crop age for defoliators were observed in all four sites (Figure 1b). The only increasing trend came in Koronadal, with a slight increase from 6% 2 WT to a peak of 8% damaged leaves 3 WT and levelling off thereafter. In Zaragoza damage had peaked on 2 WT at 12% and actually fell thereafter. Thus except for whorl maggot in Zaragoza, damage levels had peaked by 3 WT for both pest groups. With seasonal effects, average damage incidence of both pests increased signicantly from the earliest to the latest planted elds in the two sites with highest damage incidence (Table II). Thus, monitoring earlier planted elds was justied in Zaragoza and

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators

Table I. Comparison of whorl maggot and defoliator pest densities by season in four sites, Philippines.a Damaged leaves (%)c Site Zaragoza Koronadal Guimba Calauan Seasonb WS DS 1st 2nd WS DS WS DS total avg Crops (no.) 12 11 7 8 7 6 9 8 68 Fields (no.) 72 69 52 57 44 44 44 37 419 P F df Whorl maggot 20.4 + 2.2 19.2 + 2.6 25.0 + 2.9 19.5 + 2.7 7.4 + 2.9 11.5 + 3.1 11.4 + 3.1 5.8 + 2.7 15.0 + 1.1 50.0001 6.38 67 a a a a b b b b

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Defoliators 11.0 + 2.4 3.6 + 2.6 9.7 + 2.8 6.0 + 2.6 7.5 + 2.8 1.5 + 3.0 0.9 + 3.0 0.8 + 2.8 5.1 + 1.0 0.05 2.17 67 a ab a ab ab b b b

a In a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test. bWS, wet season; DS, dry season. cNon-insecticide treated plots, mean of weekly sampling 2 5 weeks after transplanting per crop.

Koronadal which showed signicant linear build up in infestation levels over the season for whorl maggot and defoliators. There was no such pattern in Guimba and Calauan. 3.3. Whorl maggot thresholds 3.3.1. Decision threshold characters. Across the four sites, whorl maggot incidence surpassed threshold levels in 40% of elds (column 1), the most for any one pest in a given growth stage as seen in the upper half of Table III. Note that the total number of crops and elds in the site data section is lower than the totals under the individual threshold data section because more than one threshold character was normally tested per eld. Greatest frequency of surpassing thresholds occurred in Koronadal and Zaragoza (55 57% of elds), twice that of the other two sites. In these sites 74 93% of elds surpassed the damage benchmark of 15% damaged leaves, with only 31 33% of elds in Calauan and Guimba, underscoring signicant site variation in pest density. Collectively the thresholds seemed conservative when measured against the damage benchmark (column 2) (58%), but not when the yield loss benchmark (4250 kg/ha) is added (column 3) (28%). Note that both the damage and yield loss benchmarks need to be satised for a correct decision score. Following these criteria, most of the correct decisions made were correct not to treat decisions (51%) (column 4), while correct to treat decisions averaged 20% over all sites and crops (column 5) giving a total of 72% correct decisions. Incorrect decisions totaling 29% were divided into two error types: (1) should have treated (12%) and (2) should not have treated (17%) based on benchmarks. Both Zaragoza and Koronadal, the two sites with the highest damage incidence, had the highest

correct to treat (27 30%) and lowest correct not to treat (30%) decisions and vice versa for the two low incidence sites. The breakdown of incorrect decisions showed elds in both sites errored more in both error types, due to inappropriate thresholds. Guimba and Calauan, with the fewest 4 AT decisions, had the lowest rates of incorrect decisions. Most (76%) of the should not have treated decisions had sufcient pest pressure but yield loss was less than the benchmark level. Likewise of the erroneous should not have treated decisions, most (56%) met the damage benchmark but not yield loss. Overall yield gain for threshold treatments averaged 176 kg/ha over the untreated control (column 9), highly signicant for all sites, despite differences in pest pressure. Three-quarters of the elds tested thresholds based on the eggs/hill character with the balance going to damaged leaves. Comparing individual characters in the lower half of Table III, 0.5E-pk, 15%DL, NF15%DL, and NF30%DL (see Table III for explanation of abbreviations) had the highest 4AT rates (64 87%). It is important that threshold characters have accurate predictability for both types of correct decisions correct to treat and correct not to treat. Some thresholds were tested when damage levels were consistently either high or low, thus yielding biased results. For example, damage levels over the ve crops where NF2E and 1E-tc were tested occurred under exceedingly low damage incidence (4AT only occurred in 3 17% elds). But NF15%DL and NF30%DL were tested in crops with very high damage levels (4AT occurred in 85 98% of elds). A further bias was introduced as characters with higher levels were more utilized in low density sites and vice versa. The development of ATs was an iterative process during the eld testing phase. When a new character

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J. A. Litsinger et al.

Figure 1. Damage patterns in the rice vegetative stage by (a) whorl maggot and (b) defoliators in four locations, Philippines.

Table II. Regression correlations between rice planting date and whorl maggot and defoliator damage in four sites, Philippines.a Site Zaragoza Koronadal Guimba Calauan
a

Pest damage Whorl maggot (damaged leaves) Defoliators (damaged leaves) Whorl maggot (damaged leaves) Defoliators (damaged leaves) Whorl maggot (damaged leaves) Defoliators (damaged leaves) Whorl maggot (damaged leaves) Defoliators (damaged leaves)

Linear regression y 18.1 4.6 x, r 0.376, P  0.0001, df 106 y 0.3 2.3 x, r 0.219, P 0.03, df 95 y 15.2 0.09 x, r 0.541, P  0.0001, df 62 y 73.9 4.3 x, r 0.424, P 0.0005, df 63 ns, df 67 ns, df 67 ns, df 65 ns, df 33

Pest damage is the dependent variable (y) measured weekly, planting date is the independent variable (x) based on the number of elapsed days after the rst planted eld, level of signicance (P  0.05).

was developed most sites tested it over the same range of levels (e.g., 1E and 2E), but based on evaluation each season those levels were adjusted lower (e.g., 0.5E and 1E) if yield loss occurred but

the AT was not reached, or higher (e.g., 2E and 3E) if ATs surpassed thresholds but no yield loss occurred. Normally the lowest AT levels performed better in the sites with highest incidence. It can be

Table III. Whorl maggot action threshold analysis by location and character from four sites over a 13-year period, Philippines.
Frequency per eld (%)a Justied Ratio From Fields (no.) (1) 141 109 88 81 39.9 50.0001 0.003 5.05 137 137 137 137 23.56 7.36 10.19 0.0001 8.90 137 137 37.11 50.0001 50.0001 50.0001 57.8 28.2 51.4 20.0 71.5 23.2 + 6.7 b 30.8 + 5.4 c 10.0 + 6.6 b 80.8 + 5.4 a 3.1 + 4.8 c 84.0 + 4.5 a 24.4 + 6.9 b 33.0 + 5.1 c 26.3 + 6.7 ab 65.6 + 5.7 a 19.3 + 5.1 b 84.9 + 4.7 a 8.8 + 3.4 a 5.3 + 3.3 a 11.9 0.033 3.01 137 54.6 + 5.9 a 93.1 + 5.1 a 42.9 + 5.7 a 29.6 + 5.4 b 30.3 + 4.8 a 59.9 + 4.0 b 22.6 + 3.3 b 57.2 + 5.9 a 74.1 + 4.5 b 33.6 + 4.9 a 29.8 + 4.8 b 27.4 + 4.3 ab 57.1 + 4.4 b 11.1 + 2.9 ab (2) (3) (4) (5) (4 5) (6) (7) 31.8 + 4.1 c 17.6 + 4.6 bc 6.3 + 4.9 a 10.7 + 4.6 ab 16.6 0.001 5.62 137 AT treat to treat Total treated treated damagea,b yield lossa,c Pest From damageb not to Correct have not have (5) (8) kg/ha (9) 180 + 38 204 + 46 160 + 39 160 + 38 176 ns 0.47 130 50.0001 50.0001 50.0001 50.0001 250 238 127 171 P df Correct Should Should (6) (7) Correct decision Incorrect decision Yield gain (AT vs untreated)d Decisions (%)a

Crops

(no.)

Site

Zaragoza

22

Koronadal

16

Guimba

15

Calauan

13

avg

df

Character 104 166 67 58 135 30 30 30 29 57 62 55 50.0001 6.57 137 137 3.96 50.0001 63.9 + 12.4 ab 85.0 + 12.7 ab 86.7 + 15.7 a 98.3 + 11.3 a 52.7 + 9.2 a 49.1 + 13.0 a 0.010 2.43 137 37.4 + 10.6 bc 67.0 + 10.8 bc 39.2 + 11.0 ab 79.2 + 14.3 ab 46.0 + 14.6 cd 45.8 + 14.5 ab 20.0 + 15.7 c 17.0 + 16.0 d 0 + 10.7 d 82.6 + 15.7 a 75.4 + 16.0 abc 49.3 + 12.9 a 4.0 + 14.7 d 79.8 + 14.7 a 26.0 + 13.4 cd 39.8 + 9.9 c 13.3 + 10.4 cd 23.3 + 11.6 cd 50.0001 5.79 137 3.3 + 10.2 c 30.0 + 7.3 d 9.7 + 16.8 cd 74.5 + 9.5 a 20.4 + 7.8 c 57.8 + 7.0 c 19.3 + 8.8 bcd 56.7 + 8.1 ab 37.9 + 6.6 bc 65.8 + 6.7 c 36.5 + 10.2 abc 42.0 + 6.2 bc 20.0 + 11.1 c 29.7 + 11.3 d 6.7 + 9.2 d 82.7 + 10.4 a 30.9 + 7.0 c 45.7 + 7.2 d 20.1 + 6.8 bc 62.2 + 6.6 ab 13.0 + 5.2 bc 6.7 + 8.2 bc 14.7 + 4.9 bc 6.3 + 2.4 bc 1.1 + 7.5 c 58.8 + 11.6 a 6.6 + 11.6 bc 30.5 + 10.6 ab 23.6 + 7.8 b 52.8 + 8.2 a 47.6 + 9.2 a 50.0001 5.23 137 55.5 + 8.2 b 69.5 + 8.4 c 27.9 + 7.3 bc 41.1 + 7.8 c 20.7 + 6.1 b

Level

Sampling site

Abbreviation 61.7 + 6.5 b 75.1 + 5.6 a 89.4 + 8.8 a 56.7 + 5.3 b 63.0 + 6.3 b 80.0 + 8.0 a 62.8 + 12.5 ab 79.9 + 12.5 a 56.5 + 11.4 b 63.5 + 8.4 ab 66.1 + 8.8 ab 70.9 + 9.8 ab 0.011 2.85 137 8.2 + 4.3 a 9.2 + 3.7 a 6.3 + 5.8 a 17.9 + 3.4 b 22.8 + 6.1 b 16.7 + 5.3 b 0 + 8.2 a 13.6 + 8.2 ab 0 + 7.5 a 22.7 + 5.5 b 0 + 5.8 a 3.3 + 8.2 a 0.016 2.30 137 30.2 + 6.3 bc 15.8 + 5.3 ab 4.6 + 8.4 a 25.8 + 5.0 bc 15.0 + 3.8 ab 2.8 + 7.7 a 37.2 + 11.9 c 6.6 + 11.9 a 43.5 + 10.9 c 13.8 + 8.0 ab 34.1 + 8.4 bc 26.1 + 9.4 bc 0.010 2.44 137 1.9 1.9 1.6 3.0 6.0 17.7 0.6 3.1 1.4 1.5 0.6 0.6 268 + 70 243 + 51 266 + 76 63 + 76 124 + 58 17 + 85 259 + 73 129 + 92 291 + 114 273 + 136 14 + 99 67 + 103 ns 1.17 130 0.0003 50.0001 0.001 ns ns ns 0.0007 ns 0.02 0.05 ns ns 92 117 42 42 105 30 27 29 18 27 38 39

Eggs

0.5

Field itself

0.5E

18

(no./hill)

Field itself

1E

25

24

Field itself

2E

10

0.5

Neighboring

NF0.5E

28

Neighboring

NF1E

20

24

Neighboring

NF2E

0.5 (peak)

Field itself

0.5E-pk

0.5 2

Field itself

1E-tc

(trap crop)

Damaged

10 15

Field itself

15%DL

leaves (%)

20 30

Field itself

30%DL

11

10 15

Neighboring

NF15%DL

10

20 30

Neighboring

NF30%DL

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators

df

a AT, action threshold. Columns 4 5 6 7 100%. Within a section, within a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test. bStandard benchmark of 15% damaged leaves. cStandard benchmark of 250 kg/ha yield loss in vegetative stage. dYield comparison by paired t-test (P  0.05).

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J. A. Litsinger et al. There were no signicant differences among the characters in yield gain over the untreated (Table III). But 0.5E, 1E, 2E, 0.5E-pk, 15%DL, and 30%DL showed signicant yield gains over the untreated when analyzed individually. The characters with the best scores for the ve criteria were 1E and 2E which did well in all categories except having poor ratios. No other character had passing scores on more than two of the ve criteria. 3.3.2. Insecticide response. Overall the insecticide response was poor. None of the twelve insecticide regimes tested against whorl maggot met the standard of 80% control (80% fewer damaged leaves compared to the untreated) (Table IV). Highest efcacy (45% control) occurred with isofenphos as a seedling root soak (at 3 weeks after treatment [WT]), whereas carbosulfan as a root soak showed signs of phytotoxicity and performed poorly. The two granules, carbofuran and diazinon, were poor performers when soil incorporated or broadcast, although carbofuran resulted in high yield gain. None of the four foliar spray materials applied as a single application between 7 and 28 d.a.t. performed well, although triazophos and azinphos-ethyl were the best (25 28% control). Deltamethrin as a single foliar application performed sub par and resulted in lowest yields despite lack of phytotoxicity symptoms. Seedling root soak was superior during the rst 3 weeks after treatment before performance declined. Carbofuran, on the other hand, showed low initial control, performing comparatively well only at 3 WT. Diazinon provided modest initial control (1 WT) but efcacy declined steadily thereafter. Double sprays based on damaged leaf thresholds improved efcacy while single sprays performed poorly from the onset, and greatly declined after 3 WT. Thresholds based on egg counts performed

seen that the lower threshold levels, as expected, had higher 4AT frequencies. Thus, the ranges from two characters0.5E to 2E and NF0.5E to NF2Eeach show decreasing rates of justication based on damage with higher threshold levels. The criteria of the best characters should be those that have the greatest justication rates comparing the values in column 1 with those of columns 2 and 3. If column 2 were higher than column 1, there should be a high rate of incorrect should have treated decisions (e.g., NF1E, 15%DL). Vice versa if column 2 were lower than column 1, there should be a high rate of should not have treated error (e.g., 0.5E-pk). Those characters with the greatest similarity (+5%) between frequencies of column 1 and column 3 levels were NF0.5E, NF1E, NF2E, and 30%DL (Table III). Characters that resulted in the most correct responses (475% of occasions) were 1E and 2E, NF2E, and 1E-tc. It is notable these characters relied on egg densities rather than damaged leaves. The 2E threshold had the highest rate of correct decisions (89%) and achieved the lowest levels of both error types. The thresholds NF0.5E, NF1E, NF2E and 30%DL had the highest rates of the should have treated error. A wider array of characters 0.5E, NF0.5E, 0.5E-pk, 15%DL, NF15%DL, and NF30%DLhad the highest rates of the should not have treated error. NF0.5E had high rates of both error types. This can occur when tested in both high and low pest density sites. Those characters with the best ratios (values51) of error types to correct to treat decisions (column 8) were 0.5E-pk, NF15%DL, and NF30%DL which meant that more correct decisions than errors were made. This is a measure of a character in which performance was based on more correct positive decisions than those that resulted in mostly correct negative decisions.

Table IV. Insecticide efcacy in response to whorl maggot action thresholds.a Dosage per application (kg a.i./ha) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.012 0.012 0.4 0.75 0.5 0.5 0.5 P F df
a

Insecticide Monocrotophos

Application method/timing One spray 7 28 d.a.t. Two sprays 7 and 14 d.a.t. Two sprays 2 and 9 d.a.t. One spray 7 28 d.a.t. Two sprays 2 and 9 d.a.t. One spray 7 28 d.a.t. Two sprays 2 and 9 d.a.t. One spray 7 28 d.a.t. Broadcast granules 14 d.a.t. Soil incorporated granules Seedling root soak Seedling root soak

Damaged leaves 3 WTb,c (% control) 20.6 + 4.7 d 25.1 + 5.1 c 31.8 + 4.3 b 24.5 + 4.5 c 29.7 + 9.1 bc 721.6 + 10.0 e 36.7 + 8.2 b 28.2 + 6.7 bc 13.0 + 6.5 d 22.6 + 8.2 cd 45.4 + 4.8 a 17.0 + 11.9 d 50.0001 4.81 357

Yield gain (kg/ha)b 154 + 84 b 264 + 94 a 336 + 103 a 159 + 94 b 341 + 187 a 7198 + 149 c 171 + 160 b 177 + 139 b 133 + 126 b 414 + 160 a 233 + 94 ab 7127 + 230 c 50.0001 4.17 336

n 45 38 54 49 12 10 15 22 24 15 44 11

Azinphos-ethyl Deltamethrin Triazophos Diazinon Carbofuran Isofenphos Carbosulfan

WT, weeks after treatment, d.a.t., days after transplanting, mean + SEM. bIn a column, means followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test. cAverage of weekly sampling 1 4 WT.

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators well initially but both single and double declined similarly thereafter. Only deltamethrin of the insecticides tested at low dosages (0.5 kg a.i. carbofuran granules/ha, 0.75 a.i. diazinon granules/ha, and sprays at 0.4 kg a.i./ha, deltamethrin 12 g a.i./ha) attained 450% control 1 4 WT even though some spray materials were applied twice. Incidental control of coterminous rice pests (defoliators, leaffolders, and stemborers) ranged from 23 to 40% depending on pest group (Table V). The benet in terms of both control and yield gain of multiple and early spray application was illustrated by monocrotophos where two sprays were superior to one spray particularly when initiated earlier (2 and 9 d.a.t. versus 7 and 14 d.a.t.) (Table IV). Two azinphos-ethyl sprays also resulted in signicant yield gain over a single spray although efcacy was insignicant. Surprisingly two sprays of deltamethrin overcame the poor control and low yield that plagued the single spray. Early warning is necessary to take advantage of the best performing insecticide regimes. Sampling eggs rather than damaged leaves allows earlier warning when monitoring the eld itself. The best results from egg monitoring came with 4-day intervals from 3 to 19 d.a.t. Decisions made after the 7 d.a.t. sampling date are too late for the best insecticide options. But if earlier-planted, neighboring elds are monitored any character can be used. When the data were pooled to contrast the eld itself with neighboring elds over all insecticide regimes, greatest control occurred from monitoring neighboring elds (35 42% control) whether egg or damaged leaf characters were used (Table VI). Least control occurred when monitoring the eld itself with damaged leaves (15%), while intermediate levels of control occurred with egg monitoring in the eld itself. There was no signicant yield difference, however, between the four characters. 3.4. Defoliator thresholds 3.4.1. Decision threshold characters. Naranga and Rivula defoliators thresholds were surpassed in only 12% of elds (Table VII). Among the four sites, highest frequency of threshold responses occurred in Zaragoza and Koronadal (18 19% of elds) with an intermediate level in Guimba. Remarkably in Calauan not one eld was treated as a result of any of the seven characters tested in 13 crops, nor in any of

175

the 81 elds monitored was the benchmark of 15% damaged leaves exceeded. Over all sites, most decisions fell within correct not to treat (83% of elds), with Calauan scoring 100% averaged over all threshold characters. Due to the low populations, there were no differences between thresholds among sites within the decision class correct to treat. The threshold incidence (column 1) matched well with the rate of damage levels 4benchmark (column 2) despite most characters (65% of elds) being based on larval densities. All sites averaged 480% correct decisions with Calauan reaching 100% followed by Guimba with 90%. Most of the thresholds errored in being aggressive (7% of the time), mostly in Koronadal and Zaragoza. There were no signicant differences between sites in yield gain from the threshold treatments but in all sites there were signicant gains over the untreated. Decisions to treat were very high for NF10%DL and NF30%DL while very low for the others. All the characters responded well to pest density, as despite wide variation among characters in reaching thresholds, remarkably there were no differences among the seven characters in making correct decisions, which ranged from 81 to 100%. For example NF10%DL exceeded the threshold on 100% of occasions while 30%DL and 2L only reached threshold levels in 4% of occasions each. The reason for the 100% frequency with NF10%DL was that it was tested during three crops of very high incidence, averaging 73% of elds surpassing the damage benchmark. There were greater correlations with the benchmarks between characters based on damaged leaves than those based on larvae. Only 0.5 L, among the larval characters, correlated with the damage yield loss benchmark, while all those based on damaged leaves did. There were no differences among characters in correct decisions (85 90%). Also there were no signicant differences among characters regarding frequency of both error types, but numerically there was a higher frequency of decisions that errored from should not have treated than should have treated errors. The ratios of both error types to correct to treat decisions were highly favorable with NF10%DL (0.2) but only marginally with NF25%DL (0.9). There were also very large differences in yield loss between characters that most likely reected differences in infestation levels. However, there were no signicant differences in yield gain among the

Table V. Control of collateral vegetative stage pests by insecticides based on thresholds for whorl maggot and defoliators. Control of nontarget pest (%)a Target pest Whorl maggot Defoliators
a

Whorl maggot

Defoliators 36.1 + 4.9

n 200

Leaffolders 40.0 + 3.7 24.6 + 7.9

n 180 58

Stemborers 22.9 + 6.4 15.4 + 8.9

n 162 55

26.4 + 4.8

48

Damaged leaves for whorl maggot, defoliators. Average of four sites, n number of elds, mean + SEM.

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J. A. Litsinger et al. larvae but was inferior on the basis of damaged leaves. Deltamethrin provided over 90% larval control 1 WT, but mortality quickly declined to nil after 2 WT giving a low 15% residual mortality when averaged 1 4 WT. There was no difference in yield gain from any of the insecticides despite signicant differences in efcacy. Insecticides targeted against defoliators resulted in 15 26% control on nontarget pests (Table V). In contrast to whorl maggot there was no signicant advantage in terms of level of control among threshold characterspercentage damaged leaves or larvae per hillwhether monitored in the eld itself or a neighboring eld (F 1.23, df 143, P 40.05).

Table VI. Comparison of whorl maggot threshold characters and monitoring sites on insecticide efcacy and yield. Damaged leavesa 1 4 WTb (% control) 15.2 + 5.5 c 34.7 + 3.4 a 21.2 + 3.2 b 41.5 + 3.6 a P F df
a

Character Damaged leaves

Sampling site Field itself Neighbouring eld Field itself Neighbouring eld

Yield gain (kg/ha) 195 + 85 245 + 52 202 + 50 188 + 55 ns 1.13 298

n 38 102 111 91

Egg

50.0001 9.18 341

In a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test, mean + SEM. b Average of weekly means 1 4 weeks after treatment (WT) across four sites.

4. Discussion 4.1. Crop age and seasonal damage patterns

threshold characters. But when compared to the untreated and not each other, signicant yield gain occurred with all characters that sampled the eld itself rather than neighboring elds. Overall the characters with the best scores (four of the ve criteria) were 10%DL, NF10%DL, and NF25%DL. Preference would go to NF10%DL based on its low ratio score. A case was made earlier to separate whorl maggot and defoliator characters due to differences in preferred control practices, but since a synergistic relationship regarding their damage and yield loss has since been detected (Litsinger 1993), there is cause to re-examine this relationship. Abundance of both pests was highly site dependent, although those sites with high whorl maggot also had high defoliator damage. Defoliators were too low in Calauan for a relationship between the two pests to be detected. In the other three sites, from 11 to 24% of elds had both whorl maggot and defoliators surpassing thresholds in the same elds (Table VIII). While only whorl maggot exceeded thresholds in Zaragoza and Koronadal in 74 75% of elds, in Guimba more (23%) elds had only defoliators exceeding thresholds. If a threshold of 15% damaged leaves from both pests combined and 250 kg/ha yield loss benchmark would have been established, 25% of elds in Guimba and 10% in Zaragoza, would have exceeded the threshold than with one pest alone. 3.4.2. Insecticide response. Monocrotophos performed better as a double spray in preventing leaf damage from defoliators (Table IX). Level of control, measured both as damaged leaves and larval mortality, was quite low overall, barely exceeding 50% with the best insecticide as a single spray. Monocrotophos as a double spray achieved 490% larval mortality 1 4 WT. Over all characters tested, carbaryl provided equal control to monocrotophos as a single spray against

ATs are most suitable for chronic pests that only periodically rise above threshold levels in a given eld from initial subeconomic levels (Stern et al. 1959). Studies on crop age showed that early crop monitoring did not produce the desired results. In the high pest density sites of Zaragoza and Koronadal, ATs based on damaged leaves were often exceeded by the rst sampling date 2 WT while in the low pest density sites of Guimba and Calauan there was no rising pattern in damage from the rst to last sampling dates (Figure 1). The former case supports monitoring earlier planted elds or use of the egg character to be able to take advantage of the best chemical control options while in the latter there was no benet from sampling beyond 2 WT, although weekly monitoring is still advised throughout the crop cycle. There were also site differences with respect to seasonal effects with the high pest density sites showing signicant pest build up from earlier to later planted elds, while no build up occurred in the low density sites (Table II). Thus, different monitoring strategies and AT characters may be needed for high and low pest density sites. Sites with higher pest densities have characteristics of longer periods of rice availability throughout the year, greater planting asynchrony, and larger rice areas (Loevinsohn et al. 1988). 4.2. Whorl maggot thresholds ATs need to be tailored to site pest density characteristics with respect to matching monitoring tools with chemical control methods, as the former are not necessarily compatible with the latter. For example, the best insecticide methods (root soak, soil incorporation, and double sprayings) by denition require a decision prior to or soon after transplanting. The only characters that provide such a warning are those based on eggs or by monitoring earlier planted

Table VII. Defoliator action threshold analysis by location and character from four sites over a 13-year period, Philippines.
Frequency per eld (%)a Justied Ratio From Pest 4 threshold treat (4) 77.1 + 4.8 b 74.9 + 5.5 b 78.2 + 5.5 b 100 + 5.3 a 82.5 0.003 4.82 126 126 2.53 5.11 126 ns 0.002 7.1 89.6 0 + 3.3 100 + 3.5 a 11.5 + 3.7 89.7 + 3.9 ab 6.7 + 2.2 0 + 2.2 3.4 ns 2.21 126 5.9 + 3.4 80.8 + 3.6 c 5.1 + 2.1 10.8 + 3.0 87.9 + 3.1 bc 1.6 + 1.8 (5) (45) (6) (7) 10.4 + 2.8 ab 14.2 + 3.2 b 3.5 + 3.4 a 0 + 3.1 a 7.0 0.006 4.30 126 to treat Total treated treated (1) 19.0 + 4.2 a 17.9 + 4.8 a 12.8 + 5.2 ab 0 + 4.7 b 12.4 P F df 126 126 126 3.58 3.70 2.60 0.02 0.01 0.05 15.6 8.6 0 + 5.4 b 0 + 4.2 b 21.8 + 6.0 a 16.3 + 4.2 a 19.4 + 5.6 a 8.1 + 4.4 a 21.0 + 4.9 a 9.9 + 3.3 a (2) (3) damagea,b yield lossa,c From damageb not to Correct have not have (5) (8) kg/ha (9) 208 + 34 214 + 59 171 + 42 179 + 46 193 ns 0.71 110 50.0001 0.0004 50.0001 0.0002 229 165 115 139 P df Correct Should Should (6) (7) Yield gain (AT vs untreated)d Correct decision Incorrect decision Decisions (%)a

Crops

Fields

(no.)

(no.)

Site

Zaragoza

22

141

Koronadal

16

109

Guimba

15

88

Calauan

13

81

avg

Character 13.2 + 5.0 bc 7.1 + 3.5 c 4.5 + 4.9 c 21.4 + 5.4 b 4.4 + 5.3 c 100 + 12.5 a 71.0 + 12.5 a P F df 115 115 115 13.62 3.57 13.29 50.0001 0.003 50.0001 58.1 + 18.5 a 20.0 + 7.5 b 73.3 + 18.5 a 65.0 + 7.5 a 22.7 + 7.8 bc 2.6 + 3.1 c 86.1 + 7.0 a 33.3 + 16.7 b 61.9 + 16.7 ab 0.045 2.23 115 32.2 + 8.0 b 13.5 + 3.2 b 74.7 + 7.2 a 9.8 + 7.2 c 3.2 + 2.9 c 85.1 + 6.5 a 11.4 + 5.2 c 1.6 + 2.1 c 88.6 + 4.7 a 9.6 + 7.3 c 2.3 + 2.9 c 81.5 + 6.6 a 2.9 + 2.7 c 2.3 + 1.9 c 1.3 + 2.6 c 12.2 + 3.0 b 2.5 + 2.9 c 53.3 + 6.8 a 20.0 + 6.8 b 50.0001 10.98 115

Level

Sampling site

Abbreviation 84.5 + 5.5 90.0 + 3.9 86.4 + 5.4 86.9 + 6.0 88.9 + 5.9 86.7 + 13.9 86.7 + 13.9 ns 2.23 115 0 + 2.2 3.0 + 1.6 1.3 + 2.1 2.3 + 2.4 5.1 + 2.3 0 + 5.5 4.8 + 5.5 ns 0.56 115 15.5 + 5.2 6.1 + 3.7 12.4 + 5.1 10.7 + 5.7 6.2 + 5.5 13.3 + 13.1 13.3 + 13.1 ns 0.51 115 5.3 4.0 10.5 1.1 4.5 0.2 0.9 167 + 53 179 + 41 282 + 55 174 + 55 153 + 57 114 + 89 66 + 103 ns 1.32 109 0.002 50.0001 50.0001 0.002 0.01 ns ns 136 200 81 81 89 45 39

Larva

0.5

Field itself

0.5L

19

123

(no./hill)

Field itself

1L

38

238

24

Field itself

2L

20

121

Damaged

10%

Field itself

10%DL

16

94

leaves (%)

20 30%

Field itself

25%DL

17

100

10%

Neighboring

NF10%DL

16

20 30%

Neighboring

NF25%DL

16

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators

AT, action threshold. Sum columns 4 5 6 7 100%. Within a section, within a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test. bStandard benchmark of 15% damaged leaves. cStandard benchmark of 250 kg/ha yield loss in vegetative stage. dYield comparison by paired t-test (P  0.05).

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J. A. Litsinger et al.
Table VIII. Frequency of whorl maggot and defoliators surpassing thresholds alone or combined. Frequency 4 AT per eld (%)a

Site Zaragoza Guimba Koronadal P F df

Whorl maggot alone 74.9 + 6.0 a 34.0 + 7.5 b 74.3 + 7.2 a 50.0001 10.66 86

Defoliators alone 3.5 + 3.7 b 23.3 + 4.6 a 1.3 + 4.5 b 0.001 7.32 86

Both 11.2 + 4.9 18.2 + 6.1 24.3 + 5.9 ns 1.49 86

Only when damage combined 10.4 + 3.7b 24.5 + 4.6a 0 + 4.6b 0.001 7.28 86

a AT action threshold of 15% damaged leaves 250 kg/ha yield loss benchmarks met. In a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly different (P  0.05) by LSD test.

elds. Monitoring earlier planted elds did not produce good results in low pest density sites. The best performing characters 1E and 2E are limited in terms of utilization with the best insecticide control as there is only a narrow window during the rst two monitoring periods for eggs (3 and 7 d.a.t.) as insecticide efcacy is best as two foliar sprays applied within the rst week after transplanting. Examining the insecticide regimes when the 1E and 2E characters were used revealed they were predominantly single sprays 5 15 d.a.t. or double sprays beginning 5 7 d.a.t. triggered just after one or two samplings 3 and 7 d.a.t. Single sprays performed poorly but were rarely applied, as most outcomes (83% of occasions) were correct not to treat decisions. The best performing spray materials acted by contact against adults alighting on the treated crop and against larvae immediately after hatch before entering tillers and also were ovicidal (Pantua and Litsinger 1987). Monocrotophos is noted to have translaminar systemic activity but is not sufcient to reach larvae feeding at the base of tillers. Carbofuran is highly systemic, but because it binds readily with soil (Siddaramappa et al. 1978), is not effective at economically acceptable dosages as a paddy water broadcast. Soil incorporation increases dosages that reach the root zone and reduces loss to achieve greater residual activity (Seiber et al. 1978). Diazinon has only pseudo-systemic activity (Pathak 1966), but even if applied at high dosages (41.5 kg a.i./ha) requires deeper ponding than most rice farms can manage in order to effect capillary action (Bandong and Litsinger 1979). The most effective and economical insecticide treatment was the single-application seedling root soak, but its use requires a pre-planting decision. Most farmers opt for the cheaper sprays. Double spray application is the next most effective method but doubles the cost, and best results occurred with early application and higher doses. The high yield gain from carbofuran was probably due to phytotonic effects (Venugopal and Litsinger 1984). The best early warning came from monitoring earlier planted elds (eggs or damaged leaves) which

resulted in more effective chemical control methods than were possible from monitoring the eld itself (Table VI). Overall egg characters utilizing earlier planted elds did not perform as well as the NF-DL characters. The NF character associated with the most correct decisions was NF2E, which, however, was highly conservative with only a rate of 1% correct decisions to treat along with a surprisingly high 17% should have treated rate. More correct decisions to treat occurred from lowering the level to NF1E and NF0.5E, but in doing so both error types also increased. But NF15%DL and NF30%DL had the highest frequencies of correct to treat decisions along with favorable 0.6 ratios. Both NF15%DL and NF30%DL performed equally well, with the only detraction of not being correlated with yield. The NF%DL character, tested over a range from 10 to 30% damaged leaves, is suggested for Zaragoza and Koronadal where seasonal effects were signicant. Perhaps farmers can ne tune the percentage damaged leaves with experience. The best performing characters 1E and 2E should be conned to low density sites. Which character and control method will be optimal will be the result of other considerations: (1) ability to afford the more costly insecticide regimes, e.g., two spray applications or granules versus a single or lower dosage application, (2) keenness of sight to monitor whorl maggot eggs (a problem with the majority of older farmers), and (3) willingness to adopt new and more elaborate technologies such as trap crop monitoring and seedling root soak method. A number of these constraints could be overcome if farmers made decisions in groups, thus those with poorer eyesight could have younger farmers inspect the crop (Matteson 2000). More difcult-tolearn practices could be reinforced by the benets of group learning. Some farmers may be hesitant to perform a corrective action before damage is seen and thus would be hesitant to adopt early warning monitoring. Monitoring damaged leaves would be preferred by many farmers over eggs as it does not require keen eyesight, and with experience assessing damaged leaves can be learned by gestalt patterns

Evaluation of action thresholds for rice whorl maggot and defoliators

43 57 28 21 n

179

In a column, means + SEM followed by a common letter are not signicantly (P  0.05) different by LSD test; WT, weeks after treatment. bSecond application 7 days after the rst.

Table IX. Chemical control efcacy of materials and spray frequencies against defoliators in response to action thresholds.

Larvae

(Bandong et al. 2002). Most weekly monitoring in practice can be quickly assessed and the tedious number based monitoring could be left to only those cases where there is doubt. In Table III it was noted that even if columns 1 and 2 were highly similar, it does not signify that column 3 will follow suit as those elds with high damage may not be the same elds showing high yield loss. This variance is evidence of the problem of obtaining reliable damage functions with rice (Litsinger et al. 2005). In addition damage may not necessarily correlate with yield loss as more than one pest may occur at damaging levels in each crop. Thus yield loss may be high but whorl maggot damage low as loss may be attributed to other pests or interactions with other crop stresses. 4.3. Defoliators The best performing characters for defoliators were 10%DL, NF10%DL, and NF25%DL, although the results should be viewed with caution as the three main characters(1) larvae per hill, (2) percentage damaged leaves in the eld itself, and (3) percentage damaged leaves in neighboring elds were tested under different infestation levels by chance. 0.5L, 1L, and 2L were tested under very low damage levels while 10%DL and 30%DL were tested under intermediate levels, with NF10%DL and NF30% DL under very high levels (column 2 Table VII). Therefore, until each character is tested in both high and low infestation levels, the results are to be viewed as preliminary. In addition there was no differentiation between characters in the categories of total correct decisions or both error types. In Zaragoza and Guimba, combining damaged leaves with whorl maggot may have merit. The lack of correlation with planting date in low pest density sites and lack of signicant yield gain among the NF characters are negative reasons regarding combining. The 0.2 ratio (incorrect to treat:correct to treat) in the NF10%DL treatment is more convincing and is the suggested choice in the high density sites with 10%DL in the low density sites. Monocrotophos was the best performing insecticide but the less hazardous carbaryl is suggested as it performed as well against larvae. A double spray doubles cost making it less attractive and as there was no signicant yield gain despite signicant increase in degree of control, a single spray appears adequate. Acknowledgements We are highly appreciative of the generous cooperation provided by over 400 farmers in the study sites. Their willingness to become experimenters with the research teams and devote at times a tenth of their rice lands to trials is a testament to their desire to seek improvements in rice production technology. Many locally hired project staff were responsible for

Yield gain (kg/ha)a

315 + 68 208 + 57 284 + 108 211 + 172 94.3 + 15.2 45.9 + 17.4 48.0 + 13.9 15.1 + 17.4 100 + 18.4 50.1 + 13.7 51.8 + 13.2 713.7 + 14.8 68.2 + 7.6 a 43.5 + 3.6 b 30.0 + 6.9 c 715.4 + 11.1 d 73.4 + 13.1 a 51.8 + 5.4 b 25.5 + 10.1 c 730.4 + 16.3 d Monocrotophos Carbaryl Deltamethrin 2b 1 1 1 0.4 0.4 0.05 0.012 a b b c a b b c

1 4 WT

3 WT

Control (%)a

1 4 WT

Damaged leaves

Insecticide

Applications (no.)

Dosage/application (kg a.i./ha)

P F df

50.0001 8.60 141

3 WT

50.0001 12.08 143

0.03 2.17 62

0.005 4.83 62

ns 1.35 142
a

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J. A. Litsinger et al.
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conducting the trials and their invaluable contributions are acknowledged. Those assisting in Zaragoza were Catalino Andrion and Rodolfo Gabriel, in Guimba George Romero, in Calauan Mariano Leron, Eduardo Micosa, and Carlos de Castro, and in Koronadal Hector Corpuz, Joseph Siazon, Beatriz Velasco, and Anita Labarinto. Cooperation of the staff in the Central Luzon and Mindanao regions of the Philippine Department of Agriculture is highly appreciated.

References
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