Rice Seed Midge Damage

John K. Saichuk, Meszaros, Anna

Rice seed midge damage on rice seeds.

Rice Seed Midge - Chironomus spp.

Adult midges resemble small mosquitoes. They swarm over rice fields, levees, and roadside ditches. Eggs are laid in strings on the surface of open water. The strings are held together by a sticky material that forms a gelatinous coat around the eggs.

After emerging, the larvae move to the soil surface, where they live in spaghetti-like tubes constructed from secreted silk, plant debris and algae.

The larvae develop through four instars before pupating under water in tubes. There are many midge species, most of which do not attack rice, and the presence of midge tubes alone does not indicate the need to treat a given field.

The life cycle from egg to adult requires one to two weeks. Larvae injure rice by feeding on the embryo of germinating seeds or on developing roots and seeds of very young seedlings. Midge injury occurs in water-seeded rice and is usually not important once seedlings are several inches tall.



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9/22/2011 8:39:02 PM
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