NEW INTERACTIVE PATHWAY KEYS FOR IDENTIFYING INSECT PESTS OF RICE AND THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES
The correct identification of insect pests and their natural enemies is critical for developing sound and sustainable pest management strategies. As agriculture intensified and insect pests became more problematic, identification of major insect pests and their natural enemies became increasingly relevant when designing appropriate pest management strategies, especially for rice.
Appointed as the first entomologist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) based in the Philippines, Dr. Mano D. Pathak, established a comprehensive rice insect pest and natural enemy collection in the early 1960s. The aim was to support national rice research programs identify specimens in their own rice arthropod collections. Subsequently, to support this objective, a dichotomous key to over 862 species was published in the chapter Taxonomy of Rice Insect Pests and their Arthropod Parasites and Predators, authored by insect and spider taxonomist, Alberto T. Barrion, with James A. Litsinger, in the book, Biology and Management of Rice Insects,edited by E. A. Heinrichs and published by IRRI in 1994.
In the 1990s, a similar collection program was begun to establish a rice insect and natural enemy collection at WARDA (West African Rice Development Association), now AfricaRice. Specimens of major insect pests and natural enemies found in West African rice were identified by Dr Barrion, who then created an illustrated, dichotomous identification key which was published in the book, Rice Feeding Insects and Selected Natural Enemies in West Africa, authored by E. A. Heinrichs and Alberto Barrion (2002).
Since the printed versions of both books have been out-of-print for several years, a recent upgrade of the Lucid software program https://www.lucidcentral.org provided the possibility of creating interactive, digital versions of both keys. Initially developed for creating matrix identification keys, the Lucid builder now enables paper-based dichotomous keys to be converted and “published” as online, interactive pathway keys. Courtesy of IAPPS, the IRRI and West African keys are now freely available online. You can access them here. Please note that we will soon add 450 photos of rice insect pests and their natural enemies to the Taxonomy of Rice Insect Pests and their Arthropod Parasites and Predators key. For further information, please email support@plantprotection.org
Prof. Geoff Norton
IAPPS President
E-mail: geoffn86@gmail.com
Global Plant Protection News 
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