Paddy Earhead Bug

Description:

Alydidae; Micrelytrinae; Leptocorisini; Leptocorisa; Leptocorisa acuta (Thunberg, 1783). The Paddy Bugs shown here are nymphs which do not yet have wings. So it can safely be assumed that they hatched from eggs laid early in the development of the rice crop. How else could they be present in the rice? From this simple fact, the rice farmer knows that he has a potentially serious infestation and usually resorts to spraying pesticides. That will solve the farmer's immediate problem, but pesticides tend to kill non-targeted insects and spiders as well as the pests. They might also leave residual contamination of the rice. However, I have read about one possible solution (among many others being developed by the International Rice Research Institute here in the Philippines) whereby it might be possible for farmers to deploy quantities of spiders into their rice fields, at the appropriate time, to decimate the pest population. I haven't heard what progress is being made , but it sounds like a great idea.

Habitat:

These Paddy Bug nymphs were spotted in one of our rice fields and just by looking around, it was easy to spot many more (various, instars, juveniles and adults). They were present in great numbers in all of the fields in this area. So there isn't much question concerning their habitat.