Distribution modeling of rice stem borers and their heteropteran predators in different climates of Iran

Jalaeian Zaferani, Mahdi and Sarafrazi, Alimorad and Golizadeh, Golizadeh and Naimi, Babak (2018) Distribution modeling of rice stem borers and their heteropteran predators in different climates of Iran. Doctoral thesis, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili.

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Abstract

Stem borers are major pests in all growth stages of rice. Accurate assessment of distribution potential of the pests and their predators in paddy filed ecosystems, play a key role in their management. In this study, the geographical distribution of moth stem borers and their heteropteran predators were investigated in paddy fields of 17 provinces, during 2015-2017. In addition, the distribution potential of important species, was determined using nine distribution models (GLM, BRT, SVM, CART, MARS, RF, Maxent, Maxlike and BIOCLIM) with sdm package in R software. A total of eight stem borer species including Chilo partellus, C. luteellus, C. suppressalis, C. phragmitella, Scirpophaga praelata, Sesamia cretica, S. nonagrioides and Ostrinia nubilalis; and eight heteropteran predators, including Andrallus spinidens, Oncocephalus pilicornis, O. plumicornis, Peirates hybridus, Ectomocoris ululans, Deraeocoris serenus, Orius minutus and Nabis capsiformis were identified. Chilo suppressalis and Sesamia spp. were identified as serious rice stem borers and A. spinidens was the most important heteropteran predator in paddy fields of Iran. Chilo suppressalis is recorded for the first time from five provinces including Khorasan-e Razavi, Qazvin, Zanjan, Chaharmahal Bakhtiari and Azarbayejan-e Sharqi. Moreover, damage by Sesamia spp. on rice for the first time is reported from Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad, Esfahan, Ilam and Ardebil provinces. Distribution prediction results showed limited suitable areas for C. suppressalis, and a wider range for Sesamia spp. However, Sesamia spp. only damage on rice in few areas due to its competition with C. suppressalis or lack of host plant. Moreover, distribution prediction of A. spinidens showed that paddy fields of some provinces are suitable for the presence of this biological control agent. Assessing the rate of contribution of environmental variables in modelling the distribution of C. suppressalis, Sesamia spp. and A. spinidens, revealed that temperature, precipitation and elevation, had the highest contribution, respectively. Based on AUC and TSS indices, all models had acceptable performance for predicting the distribution of C. suppressalis. While only RF, SVM, and Maxent models showed acceptable accuracy in distribution prediction of Sesamia spp. Moreover, among the models examined, only CART model did not have acceptable accuracy for A. spinidens. The current findings provide key and basic distribution information of the most important rice stem borers and their heteropteran predators in paddy fields of Iran, which would be useful in implementing an effective pest management program.

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