Abstract
The rice stink bugs, Leptocorisa chinensis, Lagynotomus elongatus and Cletus punctiger, are important cosmetic pests that cause pecky rice. The first step towards the establishment of effective and environment-friendly rice bug management is to specify the species that is most responsible for pecky rice formation. For this purpose we investigated species-specific feeding marks on the grain with caged insects. The feeding marks caused by L. chinensis and L. elongatus were mostly found on the grain surface along hooking portion and the basal part of the grain, respectively, while those caused by C. punctiger were found everywhere under lemma and palea. The position of feeding marks on rice grains was species-specific and independent of the ripening stage of the rice and the developmental stage of rice bugs. Species-specific positions of feeding marks were due to the species-specific sucking position. These results provide useful information for specifying the major species causing the standard type of pecky rice.
