Rice Swarming Caterpillar

Symptom

The swarming caterpillars damage paddy crop by cutting off leaf tips, leaf margins and even the plants at the base. The damage is more severe on seedlings in nursery, direct seeded crops and rice in early tillering stage. In severe cases, entire swarms may invade the transplanted plots  in large numbers and devastate the crop overnight, similar to how cattle might. It is severly affected in rainfed lowland rice than in irrigated rice. It is necessary to spray one week apart starting from (4-5) days after rice seedling. If irrigation water is available, flood the field before spraying.