Associating light trap catches of some major rice insect pests with prevailing envioronmental factors

The insect pests of rice were found for a specific duration throughout the year,however,dominancy of insects was comparatively higher from mid-march to may and from august to mid-october,in case of white stem borer and yellow stem borer during both the years,2009 and 2010; while from september to start of april of next year in case of pink stem borer. on comparing the weather parameters,importantly temperature and humidity,it was evident that the insect trap was recorded higher within specific range of temperature that varies from 18 to 35°c in case of white and yellow stem borers,and shows significant relationship with total insect catch. maximum traps were observed during april where average temperature was 30-33°c,considering it optimal temperature for insect catch by light traps. however,in case of pink stem borer,insect trap was found to occur below 32°c during all winter season. association analysis of temperature with insect catch clearly accentuates the strong relationship of activity of these insects with environmental temperature. at the same time,it was also discovered that this relationship is within specific temperature range,i.e. between upper and lower threshold of activity,below and above of this range,temperature conferred no effect on activity of these insects. © 2015 university of agriculture. all rights reserved.