BIOLOGY OF RICE BLUE BEETLE LEPTISPA PYGMAEA BALY (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) IN KONKAN REGION

Rice Oryza sativa is second most important cereal crop after wheat in the world. It is staple food crop for more than two third of the population of India and more than 65 per cent of the world’s population (Mathur et al., 1999). Rice is probably the world’s most genetically diverse crop, which thrives well under varying ecosystems starting from rainfed upland (dry systems) to rainfed lowland (wet system) and in deep water situations (Rajehja, 1995). In India, rice occupies an area of 43.97 million hectares with annual production of 157.9 million tonnes and productivity is 3.59 tonnes per ha (Anonymous, 2012). Though the production is large, the per hectare yield is very poor as compared to other rice growing countries like Spain, Japan, Australia and China. The main reasons for low productivity are vagaries of nature, low fertilizer use efficiency, poor management of insect-pests and heavy infestation of weeds.