> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://badixth-dc85e378.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Diagnose and Respond to Rice Bug

> Identify rice bug from sucked, discolored, empty grains at milk stage and a strong bug odor in the field, and control it with clean bunds, timing, and selective insecticide at heading.

Rice bug (*Leptocorisa oratorius* and related species) feeds by sucking the milky content out of developing grains. Damaged grains become empty, discolored, and often develop dark spots at the feeding point. The insect emits a strong distinctive odor easily noticed in an infested field.

## When rice is most vulnerable

Heading through milk stage. Once grains have hardened past the dough stage, further feeding causes little damage.

## How rice bug shows in satellite data

* **No reliable satellite signature** - grain damage does not show as canopy change.
* **Yield-map or reports data** show quality reductions (increased empty and stained grains) despite normal NDVI.
* Weather and phenology are the main triggers for scouting alerts, not imagery.

<Warning>
  Rice bug is a grain-quality problem. It will not appear on your NDVI dashboard. Schedule scouting at heading, especially if your field borders grasslands or fallow.
</Warning>

## Field symptoms

* Empty, shriveled grains with dark spots at the feeding site
* Discolored, off-color panicles at milk stage
* Bugs visible on panicles in early morning and late afternoon
* Strong distinctive odor ("bug smell") on entering the field
* Yield loss quantified only at threshing

## Reduce the damage by

* **Keep bunds and surrounding grasslands clean** - rice bug breeds in wild grasses and moves into rice at heading.
* **Synchronized planting** across an area reduces the window during which flowering rice is available to the bugs.
* **Early morning hand-net catching** works on small plots.
* **Selective insecticide** (a single spray of a pyrethroid or neonicotinoid) at heading only if scouting shows more than one bug per hill.
* **Do not spray after milk stage** - most damage is already done.

## Set an alert for early warning

<Tip>
  Turn the diagnosis into a trigger. Use a phenology-based reminder rather than an imagery alert.
</Tip>

Recommended settings for rice bug on rice:

* **Calendar reminder** - schedule scouting at heading, especially on fields bordering grasslands or fallow.
* **New Imagery alert** during heading to prompt a scout visit even though the insect does not show in the NDVI itself.

## Related

* [Rice Diagnosis](/guides/Crop/Rice/rice-abiotic-stress)
* [Set up automated crop alerts](/guides/alerts-notifications)