The rice plant is an ideal host for many insect species. All of the plant parts are vulnerable to insect-feeding from the time of sowing till harvest. There are over 800 insect species damaging rice in one way or another, although the majority of them do very little damage. In tropical Asia only about 20 species are of major importance. In Africa, 15 species of insects are considered major rice pests and in the Americas about 20 species are considered major pests.
To develop effective pest management strategies, it is essential to properly identify and understand the biology and ecology of insect pests and the arthropods that help regulate their populations. Rice Insect Pests and Their Management effectively utilizes the unique knowledge and expertise of leading rice entomologists from Africa, Asia and the Americas to provide the first global coverage of rice insect pests. The discussion of each pest includes geographical distribution, plant hosts other than rice, description and biology, plant damage and ecology.
1. Biology and ecology of rice-feeding insects: root and stem feeders
2. Biology and ecology of rice-feeding insects: stem borers and rice gall midges
3. Biology and ecology of rice-feeding insects: leafhoppers and planthoppers
4. Biology and ecology of rice-feeding insects: foliage feeders
5. Biology and ecology of rice-feeding insects: panicle feeders
6. Integrated pest management (IPM) of rice
Professor E. A. "Short" Heinrichs is Research Professor in Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. Dr Francis E. Nwilene is Regional Representative for The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), based in Nigeria. Professor Michael J. Stout is L. D. Newsom Professor of Integrated Pest Management at Louisiana State University, USA. Dr Buyung A. R. Hadi is an Entomologist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), The Philippines. Dr Thais Freitas is a researcher at the Universidade Federal Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
"The authors need to be congratulated to have pulled together such a large body of relevant information on rice pests and made it available to pest management professionals in the field as well as scientists in the laboratories in a very approachable and easy to use format."
– Hans Herren, Millennium Institute; formerly Director General of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), winner The World Food Prize and numerous other awards.
"For anyone who wants information on the insect pests of rice, this book provides an enormous amount of information about the root and stem feeders, stem borers, gall midges, leafhoppers, planthoppers, foliage feeders and panicle feeders, together with colour illustrations and line drawings, supported by an extensive list of references to each chapter. For each insect, information is given on their distribution, host plants, their biology/ecology and plant damage they cause."
– Outlooks on Pest Management