Rice Whitebacked Planthopper
Sogatella furcifera
📖 Description
Rice Whitebacked Planthopper (WBPH) is one of the three most destructive planthopper pests of rice in the Indian subcontinent, alongside Brown Planthopper (BPH) and Small Brown Planthopper (SBPH). Unlike BPH which is monophagous on rice, WBPH also colonises wild grasses which serve as reservoirs between cropping cycles. The pest causes direct damage through phloem feeding and indirect damage through sooty mold and virus transmission. Outbreaks are triggered by excessive nitrogen, dense planting, continuous flooding and misuse of broad-spectrum insecticides that kill natural enemies. Of particular concern is the emergence of SRBSDV (Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus) in parts of South and Southeast Asia, transmitted persistently by WBPH. Resistance management is critical — populations have evolved resistance to imidacloprid and many other insecticides, so rotation across modes of action and conservation of egg parasitoids (Anagrus spp., which can parasitize 60-80% of eggs) are essential.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Yellowing and wilting of leaves ('hopperburn'), sooty mold growth on honeydew-drenched foliage, stunting and reduced tillering, complete drying of crop patches in severe outbreaks, yield reduction 30-60%, transmission of Southern Rice Black-Streaked Dwarf Virus (SRBSDV) in epidemic zones
🩹 Treatment
- Conserve egg parasitoids (Anagrus, Gonatocerus), apply neem oil 5 ml/L, use need-based insecticide when 5-10 hoppers per hill or 1 hopper per hill during early crop stage, avoid pyrethroids that trigger resurgence
🌿 Organic treatments
- Neem oil 5 ml/L + 5 g/L soap, release Anagrus spp. egg parasitoids, apply Beauveria bassiana @ 5 g/L, plant trap crops (bermuda grass around field), drain field for 3-4 days to suppress nymphs, apply Metarhizium anisopliae @ 5 g/L
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Buprofezin 25 SC @ 1.5 ml/L (selective to planthoppers), Pymetrozine 50 WG @ 0.5 g/L, Dinotefuran 20 SG @ 0.4 g/L, Acephate 75 SP @ 1 g/L (rotate to avoid resistance), Triflumezopyrim 10 SC @ 0.4 ml/L (novel mode of action)
🛡️ Prevention
- Plant resistant varieties (IR64, Pusa 44, BPT 5204 with Wbph2 gene), avoid excessive nitrogen (limit to 80 kg N/ha), maintain proper spacing (20x15 cm), drain field at 30-45 DAT to suppress nymphs, avoid pyrethroids and broad-spectrum insecticides, monitor with light traps and yellow sticky traps
🪴 Affected plants
- Rice, Wild Rice, Leersia, Echinochloa, Other Grasses
🦋 Natural predators
- Anagrus spp., Gonatocerus spp., Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (mirid predator), Lycosa spiders, Micraspis ladybirds, veliid bugs
🌱 Host plants
- Oryza sativa, Oryza rufipogon, Leersia hexandra, Echinochloa crus-galli
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 50-300 eggs in groups of 5-15 inside leaf sheaths and midribs.
- Eggs hatch in 6-10 days.
- Nymphs pass through 5 instars in 12-18 days.
- Adult lifespan 15-30 days.
- Total life cycle 25-35 days.
- 5-8 overlapping generations per year.
- Macropterous adults migrate 100s of km on monsoon winds.
📅 Season
- Year-round in tropical rice, peaks Jul-Oct (kharif) and Feb-Apr (rabi) in South India
🔎 Appearance
- Adult is a pale straw-coloured planthopper with a distinctive white band down the middle of the thorax and forewings.
- Two wing forms exist: brachypterous (short-winged, non-migratory) and macropterous (long-winged, migratory).
- Nymphs are ivory-white with dark brown to black abdominal markings and waxy filaments on the abdomen.
💥 Damage level
- Severe
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Rapid
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- South Asia
- Southeast Asia
- East Asia
- Pacific
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