UC Rice Blog

Are you looking for continuing education units (CEUs) to complete your renewal application this year for the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)? The UC Statewide IPM Program has several online courses available that can help you get those last few needed credits.

It is difficult to accurately estimate yield losses due to armyworm damage. Early infestations that injure only foliage can reduce tillering, delay the crop, and cause uneven maturity. Infestations during heading and grain filling injure the panicle, causing blanks and broken panicle branches.

The armyworm outbreak we experienced a few weeks ago seems to be over. Several fields in Glenn and Butte counties had very high populations and experienced severe defoliation. In some cases, the affected areas have recovered (see pictures below).

Recently, a grower had been observing several straw colored moths flying around his field. He worried those could be armyworm moths that were laying eggs. Turned out those moths were not armyworm moths. Below are a few pictures of what the armyworm moth looks like.

In the past two weeks we saw very high armyworm populations in rice. Many fields had to be treated. However, the pyrethroids, common insecticides used against armyworms, did not provide good control. Applications of carbaryl did not reduce populations either.