''Chilo suppressalis'', the Asiatic rice borer or striped rice stemborer, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Crambidae Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies ...

. It is a widespread species, known from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, eastern Asia,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. It is a serious pest of rice. They are largely responsible for the great reduction in the rice growing in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It was probably introduced in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

by humans, where it is widely spread towards

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 18 mm in male and 18–20 mm in female. In the male, the head and thorax are brown and white. Abdomen pale. Forewings with somewhat acute apex which is ochreous, wholly suffused with brown except a patch in cell and a streak below medial nervure. Inner margin whitish. A sinuous rufous medial line runs with silvery spots on its inner side, also on discocellulars, and below vein 2. A rufous submarginal line, highly angled at vein 6 and with silvery line on its outer edge. A marginal series of black specks found. Cilia rufous. Hindwings whitish. In the female, it is much more orange-fulvous coloured. Forewings irrorated (sprinkled) with brown. Medial and submarginal lines almost obsolete. The silvery spots below the cell prominent and sometimes double. The postmedial area irrorated with silvery scales.

Ecology and life cycle

Eggs are scale like and translucent white to dark yellow. These naked clusters consist of nearly 60 overlapping rows. First-

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

larvae are greyish white with a black head. Head capsule gradually turns brown towards final stages. Full-grown larvae are yellow. Apart from the major food plant,

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, larvae also feed on wide array of plants such as '' Gigantochloa verticellata'', '' Echinochloa crusgalli cruspavonis'', '' Echinochloa stagnina'', ''

Eleusine indica ''Eleusine indica'', the Indian goosegrass, yard-grass, goosegrass, wiregrass, or crowfootgrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a small annual grass distributed throughout the warmer areas of the world to about 50 degrees lati ...

'', ''

Panicum ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 250 species of Poaceae, grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, Annual plant, annual or P ...

'' sp., ''

Paspalum conjugatum ''Paspalum conjugatum'', commonly known as carabao grass or hilo grass, is a tropical to subtropical perennial grass. It is originally from the American tropics, but has been naturalized widely in tropical Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands. It h ...

'', ''

Amaranthus ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include " prostrate pigweed" and " love lies bleeding". Some amaranth ...

'' sp., ''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is a wetland grass that can grow up to tall and has a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. Description ''Phragmites australis' ...

'', '' Raphanus raphanistrum'', '' Sclerostachya fusca'', ''

Sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

'' sp., ''

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' is a perennial herbaceous wetland plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is known in English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins (sometimes as common b ...

'', ''

Xanthium strumarium ''Xanthium strumarium'' (rough cocklebur, Noogoora burr, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants of the family Asteraceae. Some sources claim it originates in southern Europe and Asia, but has been ...

'', and '' Zizania aquatica''. Pupation takes place in a stem of the food plant. Pupae are reddish brown with two ribbed crest on the pronotal margins. Several spines are located in the cremaster on the last abdominal segment. There are two different populations of rice stem borer, one associated with rice and the other with Water Oats (

Zizania latifolia ''Zizania latifolia'', known as Manchurian wild rice (), is the only member of the wild rice genus ''Zizania'' native to Asia. It is used as a food plant. Both the stem and grain are edible. Gathered in the wild, Manchurian wild rice was an impor ...

). Biological differences between these populations, including the time at which mating occurs, which suggested that there may be cryptic species. Genetic analyses have indicated, however, that there is gene flow between these host-associated populations.

Attack

They bore the stems of their host plants, and therefore are classified as ''rice stem borers''. Almost all plant parts, from twigs, leaves, stems are attacked. Caterpillars can be largely internal feeders, whereas adults are external sap feeders. Heavily attacked plants can show varying symptoms from dead heart, white heads, dwarfing, stunting, rot, abnormal forms, and rosetting. Finally the whole plant will die. Dead hearts are the most obvious field symptoms.

Prevention

The pest should diagnosed early in the symptoms, unless it is not worthy to protect the cultivation. Many traditional and agricultural practices like flooding and harrowing or ploughing to turn in stubble and straw are effective to prevent pests in the next growing season. The use of early-maturing varieties and at harvest, planting synchronization and stem removal close to ground is managed. Biologically, they can easily removed by usage of tachinid '' Paratheresia claripalpis'', which is extensively practiced in

. The ichneumonid '' Eriborus sinicus'' is also used in Asia and Hawaii. Planting highly resistant varieties of rice and

transgenic plants Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the ...

is also known to reduce the attack of these pests.

Notes and references

External links

*
Australian InsectsRice striped stem borer, ''Chilo suppressalis'' (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), overwintering in super rice and its control using cultivation techniques''Chilo suppressalis'' (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in TaiwanChemical control of the striped stem borer, ''Chilo suppressalis'' (Walker) in riceAsiatic rice borer
{{Taxonbar, from=Q421516 Chiloini Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Insect pests of millets Insect pests of rice Moths described in 1863