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Pacific Pests & Pathogens - Mini Fact Sheet Edition

Rice pink stem borer (409)

Photo 1. Adult pink stem borer, Sesamia inferens (underside)

Photo 1. Adult pink stem borer, Sesamia inferens (top).

Photo 3. Damage ('deadheart') to rice stem by Chilo auricilius (damage by Sesamia inferens is similar).

Photo 4. 'Whitehead' - a symptom caused by stem borers: the base of the panicle is damaged preventing it from emerging or, if already emerged, the grain is unfilled and white.

Summary

Restricted. South and Southeast Asia, North America (Hawaii), Oceania. In Guam, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.
Minor pest of rice, attacks usually late and only if maize or sugarcane nearby. Also pest of millet, wheat, many grasses, some sedges.
Larvae tunnel through internodes of stem to the growing point, killing it; stems pull out easily (‘deadhearts’). Panicles fail to emerge, or emerge with unfilled grain (‘whiteheads’).
Eggs (up to 100) between leaf sheaths and stem, in rows. Mature larvae deep pink with orange-red heads, 25-30 mm long. Adults have brown hairs over the head and thorax, light-brown forewings, whitish hindwings, 28-35 mm wingspans. Strong flyer. Nocturnal.
Natural enemies: many egg and larval parasitoids and predators.
Biosecurity: introduction possible on produce contaminated with infested stems of host plants.
Cultural control: handpick in nursery; plough land well (burying larvae/pupae of previous crop); plant at higher density than normal; rotate, e.g., legumes; synchronise plantings with neighbours; submerge eggs by raising water occasionally; weed; apply split applications N; harvest at ground level to remove larvae; plough in stubble, unharvested plants and weeds; use resistant (short, high tillering, early maturing) varieties.
Chemical control: unlikely to be needed. Use abamectin. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides to preserve natural enemies.

Common Name

Pink stem borer; also known as the Asiatic pink stem borer or the purple stem borer.

Scientific Name

Sesamia inferens. A moth in the Noctuidae.

AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information (and Photo 4) from Rice Knowledge Bank. IRRI. (http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management/insects/item/stem-borer); and CABI Scirpopaga nivella (2019) Crop Protection Compendium. (www.cabi.org/cpc); and Walker, K (2005) Asiatic pink stem borer (Sesamia inferens). PaDIL - (http://www.padil.gov.au); and from Pathak MD, Khan ZR (1994) Insect Pests of Rice. IRRI/ICIPE. Photos 1&2 Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org. Photo 3 Anderson S, Tran-Nguyen L (2012) Gold-fringed Rice Borer (Chilo auricilius). (Source: N. Sallam DAFF Biosecurity.) PaDIL - (http://www.padil.gov.au).

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project HORT/2016/185: Responding to emerging pest and disease threats to horticulture in the Pacific islands, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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