Researchers hunt for invasive insect in Louisiana rice fields

Описание: (6 Feb 2026)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4635724

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rayne, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
1. Detail of rice delphacid specimens under a microscope
2. Macro detail of rice delphacid specimens
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Musgrove, rice extension specialist, Louisiana State University:
"The rice delphacid is one of those insects we call a plant hopper. It has piercing, sucking mouth parts and they use that to stab the plant and remove nutrients and sap from the plant. The last time we saw the rice delphacid was in the late 50s, going into the 60s. Came on very suddenly and caused widespread damage. But since then, it kind of disappeared. This past year, it jumped into Louisiana late into the summer.”
4. Wide of Tyler Musgrove using microscope
5. Cutaway of microscope
6. Medium of rice delphacid specimens under microscope

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kaplan, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
7. Medium of rice husks on plant
8. Aerial of rice fields and crawfish ponds
9. Medium of Tyler Musgrove walking through flooded rice field

++PARTIALLY COVERED++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rayne, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Musgrove, rice extension specialist, Louisiana State University:
"We are boots on the ground right now in the very early stages of formulating how we're going to approach solving this issue. And developing those needed control measures going forward.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kaplan, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
11. Wide of Tyler Musgrove using net to sweep for insects
12. Detail of Tyler Musgrove sorting through contents of net
13. Various of Tyler Musgrove inspecting insects

++COVERED++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rayne, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Musgrove, rice extension specialist, Louisiana State University:
"Because it's such a new pest, we don't know too much about its biology and ecology as it relates to expanding into a new region. What we're seeing on the ground is the changes in our environment is creating new problems that we weren't able to forecast years ago. And now we're having to deal with it today.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kaplan, Louisiana - 22 January 2026
15. Medium aerial of rice field
16. Cutaway of rice husks on plant
17. Wide of rice plants in water
18. Medium of rice husks reflected in water
STORYLINE:
Researchers in Louisiana are on the lookout for a tiny, plant-hopping bug that has the potential to wipe out rice fields.

After its discovery in the state last summer, scientists and extension agents have been racing around the state to sample for rice delphacids, an insect that feasts on rice and can transmit a virus that only worsens damage.

It's worrying for Louisiana because they've seen an example of how bad it can get next door in Texas, where the delphacid infestation surged last year. Yields dropped by up to 50% and farmers had to abandon fields with the worst damage, said Steve Linscombe, director of The Rice Foundation, which does research and education outreach for the U.S. rice industry.

Now in that state, farmers are projected to grow rice on only half the acres they did last year, and banks are turning down loans for some rice farmers, said Tyler Musgrove, a rice extension specialist at the Louisiana State University AgCenter.

The delphacid has appeared in U.S. rice before, Musgrove said, back in the late 1950s. It eventually disappeared after that, but scientists don’t yet know why it's back.


Of the six rice-producing states in the U.S., delphacids have now been identified in four: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.








Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...