ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE "RICE SAPPER" 

 IN PERAK. 



By L. Wrat, Jun, 



Mr. W. H. Tate handed me a short time back a number 

 of specimens of a long legged, slender bodied bug, reported 

 to be doing considerable damage to the "padi" in the Krian 

 district. He also gave me some ears of " padi" which had been 

 attacked by the insects. These contained no grain, all the 

 husks being empty. 



The specimens were, unfortunately, in a vei-y bad state, 

 having simply been put into a bottle without any spirit to 

 preserve them. However, there can be little doubt that the 

 insect pest is Leplocorisa acuta, Thunb. The specimens sent are 

 all of the spotted variety known as L. macnUventris, Dallas. 

 There are two rows of four spots on the sides of the abdomen. 



The insect is called the "Rice Sapper," and is most 

 destructive to "padi." It has a wide geographical range, 

 having been recorded from China, Philippines, Java, Australia, 

 Sumatra, Tranquebar, Bengal, Assam, Ceylon, South India, 

 Tinnevelly, Bombay, Kerachi, Behar, Sikkim and Calcutta. 



In the Indian Museum Notes, Vol. II., p. 166, it is 

 stated that "it sucks out the juices of the unripe grain and 

 seriously interferes with the yield of the crop. As much as 

 three quarters of the yield have been reported as sometimes 

 destroyed by it." In another part of the same work it is said 

 that " the insect in the larval state is most destructive, sucking 

 out the juices from the halm, which withers and turns yellow, 

 but we know nothing of its life - history, how many broods 

 there are, where the eggs are laid and apparently hibernate, 

 whether any attempts at destroying the pest have been made, 

 and with what results." 



Mr. Tate informed me that it attacked the rice in its 

 perfect state, but it is quite likely that it may spend both 

 the larval and imago period of its existence on the same food 

 plant. 



