Rice bug is a significant insect pest in a rice field. It can reduce the total yield by 30% during harvest if not given attention by farmers. The insect feeds on rice at the milking stage (30-35 days after planting depending on the rice variety) of the plant leaving empty rice grains during harvest. Thus the reduce in the total yield.

A cheaper cultural method of controlling rice bug practiced by some farmers all over the Philippines is by dipping a cloth to a female urine and place it in sticks or poles placed in the boundaries of the field. The urine should come from a female who has already undergone menstruation or if she is already in her menstruation period. Farmers recommended using a wife’s urine as it is more effective than using an unmarried woman’s urine. Still, the latter’s urine can be used as long as she is already in puberty.

The reason for this is that male rice bugs are attracted to the female hormones secreted by the female rice bags. This hormone is similar to the human female hormone, thus, the male hormones will be attracted to the cloth (dipped in the female urine and stuck on a stick or pole) that you have placed in the boundaries of the field. By daytime, the male rice bugs will be gathered around these traps and you can manually kill the male rice bugs. Without the male rice bugs, there wont be any agents to fertilize the female rice bugs. Thus, the rice bug population will be reduced and that you don’t have to spend on additional costs for pesticide application. I hope this information helps.

Tags: rice, rice bug

This article is about some interesting characteristics of insects I got from Yami No Matsuei’s Hangout

There are 725,000 insect species recorded in 1954. This is three times more that all other animals combined. The recent number of insect species known today is close to a million. Insects have lived on earth for about 350 million years compared to a less that 2 million years for man. They evolved and developed unusual morphological features, habit or behavior and unique characteristics to survive in any type of habitat.

Here are some insect characteristics that made them a successful group of arthropods:

1. Insects have hard and impervious body cover which is called the exoskeleton.

2. Insects possess wings that help them avoid predatory enemies, unfavorable conditions, and in finding food and mate.

3. Insects have high rate of reproduction. They have short developmental period and have high fecundity, meaning, several eggs are being laid by the mother.

4. Insects have a small size. This made them capable to complete development and reproduction with small amount of food.

5. Insects have varied developmental stages and habits.

6. Insects have a great capability of adaptation which allowed them to survive for a very long period of time.

7. Insects have highly varied habits and behavior.

These characteristics have made the insects of today survive millions of years ago.

Tags: Insects