EAGLE LAKE, TX – The Rice Delphacid (RD) has been positively identified in two Texas rice fields this week.
Sam Rustom, Texas A&M rice specialist, reported that very low numbers of adult delphacids were found in one field each in Victoria and Wharton Counties. He said, “The insect was first detected in Texas last year on June 6, so it has shown up essentially on the same date in 2026. Finding the insect does not mean it will be as destructive this year, it just necessitates that we must be very diligent in scouting for it.”
Dr. Xin-Gen (Shane) Zhou, Texas A&M rice pathologist at the Beaumont station confirmed the presence of the virus disease Rice Hoja Blanca (RHBV) in the Texas main rice crop this year. “The virus was detected in Jefferson County on June 5,” Zhou said. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely."
The RD is an invasive piercing-sucking insect that was first found in the southern rice belt in the late 1950s but disappeared in the early 1960s. It was most recently rediscovered in rice west of Houston in 2015 but was primarily a late season pest affecting ratoon (second) crop rice. It was identified in the main crop rice in Texas in July of 2024 and in early June in 2025 where it caused significant damage in both main and ratoon crops. It also caused significant damage to rice in northeast and central Louisiana and southwest and southeast Arkansas. Mississippi did have a few fields with significant populations and, while detected late in southwest Louisiana, it did not cause much damage.
Damage from the RD is caused by both nymphs (early growth stages) and adults which extract sap from the plant. This feeding activity results in extensive leaf damage and possibly plant death. In addition, the RD secretes a sugary substance that can lead to sooty mold growth that can reduce a plant’s ability to photosynthesize, exacerbating the direct leaf damage. The RD can also vector RHBV that can be damaging as well.
Proactively in 2026, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a Section 18 Emergency Exemption for the use of the active ingredient buprofezin, which is an insect growth regulator manufactured by Nichino America under the tradename Courier (see
USA Rice Daily, March 20, 2026)
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“The U.S. rice industry is very grateful that the applications were expeditiously approved by the EPA based on sound science,” said USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann. “Rice research entomologists have found that Courier has greater efficacy in controlling the RD nymphs than currently registered insecticides, and Nichino America staff have indicated that supplies of Courier have been strategically distributed in rice country to be readily available, if needed.”
USA Rice created the multi-state Rice Delphacid Task Force last year to facilitate and coordinate response to the insect and the disease.