Common name

Scientific name

What it does

Field crickets feed on leaves by making irregular to longitudinal exit holes. When feeding damage is excessive, they can cause deadheart.

Why and where it occurs

Crickets or gryllids are both leaf- and stem-feeding insects. They are active at night. Their nymphs are more destructive than the adults. They are common in the irrigated rice environment. In upland environment, the insects are found underneath heaps of weed piles.

Presence of piles of weeds attracts the insect pest. Alternate hosts support continuous presence of the insect pest in rice environment.

How to identify

Check for insect presence.

Eggs are elongate-ovoid shaped and white to orange in color. Nymphs are pale brown.

Check for feeding on the rice plants, specifically:

• irregular to longitudinal exit holes
• cutting of central portions of the leaf blades leaving only the midrib
• deadheart

Click on images to enlarge

Crickets feed on the central portions of the leaf blade leaving the leaf edges intact

How to manage

To prevent

• Use resistant varieties (modern varieties with long and dense fibrous can tolerate damage better)
• Flood rice fields for  for 3-4 days, level the field for better water control
• Avoid construction of a raised nursery to reduce feeding damage on seedlings
• During land preparation, collect the nymphs and adults

To control

• Maintain standing water
• Encourage biological control agents: sphecid wasp, carabid beetle, nematodes, and a fungus; mole crickets eat each other when they are together because of their cannibalistic behavior
• Poison insects by baits made by mixing moistened rice bran and insecticide and placing it along rice bunds or drier areas of the field

Learn more

View full fact sheet:
Field crickets on IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank