Rice Gall Midge
Orseolia oryzae
📖 Description
Rice Gall Midge is a major dipteran pest of rice in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in irrigated and rainfed wetland rice. Adult female flies lay eggs on rice leaves. Newly hatched maggots move down to the growing point of the tiller, where they feed and inject substances that cause the tiller to develop into a tubular gall (‘silver shoot’ or ‘onion shoot’) instead of a normal productive tiller. Affected tillers produce no panicle, directly reducing yield. Outbreaks are most severe in regions with continuous rice cultivation and asynchronous planting. The pest has multiple biotypes across India, and resistant varieties must be matched to local biotypes. Conservation of Platygaster parasitoids is central to biological control.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Silver or onion-like tubular shoots called 'silver shoots' or 'onion shoots' instead of normal tillers, no panicle formation in affected tillers, stunted plants, reduced tillering, yield loss 30-50% in severe infestation
🩹 Treatment
- Apply carbofuran 3G @ 25 kg/ha in nursery and main field, release Platygaster oryzae parasitoids, apply neem cake @ 250 kg/ha as basal, destroy alternate hosts, plant resistant varieties
🌿 Organic treatments
- Release Platygaster oryzae @ 5000/ha parasitoid, apply neem cake @ 250 kg/ha as basal, apply Bacillus thuringiensis, destroy wild rice and ratoons, apply Metarhizium anisopliae in nursery, light traps @ 1/ha
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Carbofuran 3G @ 25 kg/ha granules in nursery and main field, Phorate 10 G @ 10 kg/ha in soil, Fipronil 0.3 G @ 25 kg/ha, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.3 ml/L spray at vegetative stage
🛡️ Prevention
- Plant resistant varieties (Surekha, Phalguna, Suraksha), synchronous planting, destroy wild rice and ratoons, remove volunteer rice, avoid clonal planting material from infested areas, conserve parasitoids (Platygaster), apply neem cake as basal, balanced fertilizer use
🪴 Affected plants
- Rice, Wild Rice, Some Grasses
🦋 Natural predators
- Platygaster oryzae, Propicroscytus mirifer, Spiders, Predatory Bugs
🌱 Host plants
- Oryza sativa, Oryza rufipogon, Leersia hexandra
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 100-200 eggs on leaves.
- Eggs hatch in 3-4 days.
- Maggots move to the growing point and feed for 15-20 days, forming galls.
- Pupation occurs inside the gall, lasting 5-7 days.
- Adults emerge, mate, and live 2-4 days.
- Total life cycle 25-35 days; 6-8 overlapping generations per year.
📅 Season
- Active Jul-Nov during Kharif rice, peak at 20-50 days after transplanting
🔎 Appearance
- Tiny mosquito-like flies with an orange-red abdomen and long legs.
- Adults are weak fliers.
- Larvae are tiny orange maggots that feed inside rice tillers, causing the formation of tubular galls (silver shoots).
💥 Damage level
- High
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Fast
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Southeast Asia
Have an Insect to Identify?
Upload or take a photo of an insect on your plant and our AI will identify it and recommend treatments.
📷 Diagnose from Image