GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF POPULATION

DIFFERENTIATION IN TWO SPECIES OF RICE STEM BORERS FROM

BOHOL, PHILIPPINES

Author: Leonel P. Lumogdang, leonellumogdang@gmail.com

Institute of Teacher Education and Information Technology (ITEIT)
SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES AGRI-BUSINESS AND MARINE, AND AQUATIC SCHOOL OF
TECHNOLOGY (SPAMAST)

INTRODUCTION:

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the only major grain crop that is grown almost exclusively as food. More
than 90% of the world’s rice is produced in Asia (Neue, 1993). The Philippines was considered as
one of the largest rice producers in the world, accounting for 2.8% of global rice production
(Albutra et al., 2012). Rice yields in this rotation have increased over time, but evidence indicates
that factor productivity may be declining. System problems include poor wheat populations
caused by the poor soil structure and plow pan formed for puddled rice, late wheat planting
resulting from late rice harvesting, and losses to grassy weeds encouraged by continuous rice-
wheat cultivation. Sustainability issues include soil nutrient depletion and possible buildup of
insects, weeds, and diseases (Fujisaka, 1994). Of more than 70 species of insect pests of rice, about
20 species have major significance. These pests are a major factor responsible for low-rice yields
particularly in tropical Asia, the world’s rice bowl (Pathak, 1968). Rice stem borers of the
Lepidopteran family Pyralidae are widely distributed pest of the rice agroecosystem (Demayo et
al., 2011) and they are considered to be the most serious insect pests of rice in Asia (Chandler,
1967).
Overall yield losses are caused by the two most important species, the yellow stem borer
Scirpophaga incertulas and striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis, are often estimated at 5-
10%.This is equivalent to 25 million tons of Asia’s 1995 rice harvest (Ghareyazie, et al., 1997). In
the Philippines, stem borers are one of the most destructive insect pests because they attack the
rice plant throughout its growing period.

The larvae are the most destructive stage since it directly penetrates into the rice stem using its
mandible. The mandibles play a very important role in the entry of the larvae inside the stem
(Demayo et al. 2011).The larvae use their mandibles for feeding, primarily facilitating biting,
chewing and severing of the rice stem thus causing rice injury and eventually death (Alegre et al.,
2011).

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has made efforts in creating and developing new
ways to manage insect pest infestations. Rice plants were genetically modified to reduce
destruction brought by rice stem borers. However, no rice variety is completely resistant against
rice stem borer’s attack (Chandler, 1968). Further, it has not been very effective since stem borers
itself have evolved to counter-mechanisms allowing them to continue to feed on resistant plants.
Albutra et al. (2012), found that the host-plant modifications are known to promote high
taxonomic diversity and ecomorphological disparity among its insect-herbivores. Hence, studies
on mouthpart morphology specifically the mandible are central to understanding these adaptive
modifications as they are used as major feeding apparatus. According to Demayo et al. (2011), the
morphological variation in the shapes of the stem borer mandibles is influenced by the genotypes
of the host plant.
The study aimed to determine the population differentiation of the two stem borer species in Bohol,
namely the yellow S. incertulas and the striped C. suppressalis in IR-66, Pioneer 77 and Bigante rice
varieties. Specifically, it aimed to determine if mandibular variations among populations of stem
borers in both striped and yellow species are associated with rice varieties that exhibit differential
resistance against these two species of pest.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Collection of Samples
 The yellow stem borer S. incertulas and the striped stem borer C. suppressalis were
collected from three varieties of rice plant, namely: IR, Bigante and Pioneer in the
municipality of Bilar, Bohol (Figure 1).

 A mature stage of rice plant was chosen in each variety located within the area of the same
sampling site. Rice stalks which appeared white and bearing no rice grains compared to the
others was uprooted. With the aid of a knife, each stalk was longitudinally divided, revealing
stem borer’s larvae inside (Figure 2)
B. Processing of Samples

 The stem borer larvae were placed in different test tubes that contained 5% Sodium
hydroxide. The body of the larvae were processed until it appeared transparent and the
mandibles with their articulations were distinguished due to its black appearance (Figure 4).
  Under the stereomicroscope, the mandibles were separated from the bodies using a
dissecting needle and each pair was mounted on clear glass slides (Figure 5).

 The 111 left and right mandibles that were extracted, mounted, and outlined were analyzed
incurring image acquisition. The outline of mandibles was extracted via chain-coding and
principal component analyzes (PCA) were performed to determine patterns of shape
differences.

C. Geometric Morphometric Analysis

 The outline of the mandibles of yellow and striped stem borers were analyzed in chain
coding technique using the software package SHAPE v.1.3 (Iwata & Ukai, 2002) to examine
the variation in shapes.

 Chaincoder converts the full color image into a binary (black and white) image, reduces
noise, traces the contours of objects and describes the contour information as chaincode.
The codes were then analyzed using Elliptic Fourier analysis. It allows detailed analysis of
fine-scale morphological variation in the outline of the mandibles of rice stem borer’s larvae.

 Principal component analysis was used to summarize shape variation in the left and right
mandibles based on the EFD coefficients

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

 The left and right mandible of the two populations of stem borers (yellow and stripe) in the
three host varieties of rice (IR, Pioneer, Bigante) in the same geographical location showed
no morphological variations.
 The yellow and striped stem borers are not selective of the varieties of the rice plant in
Bohol as revealed in the study.
 The left and right mandibles of the yellow and striped stem borers in Bohol contained
symmetrical mandible shape variations.
 Figure 6 revealed the principal components (PC) of the left and right mandible of the two
stem Borers species. The first PC which showed for the highest variability in the shape of the
mandible has 34.99% of the overall shape variation in the left mandible and 31.70% of the
variation in the right mandible.
 The PC of the shape mandible of the yellow and striped stem borers accumulated below 50%
which means that the variations of the left and right mandible do not significantly vary and is
symmetrical.

 The present study revealed that random accumulation of yellow S. incertulas and striped C.
suppressalis stem borers to the three varieties of rice plants namely, IR-66, Pioneer 77 and
Bigante which the stem borers are not selective in thriving particularly in the area like Bohol.
  The overall variation in the shape of the mandible revealed the same shape mandible
variation of the two populations studied.

CONCLUSIONS
 Variations in the shapes of mandibles were detected in the populations of stem borers
namely S. incertulas and C. suppressalis. The variations observed were found to be common
among the populations studied.

 There are differences in the amount of permissible flexibility in the shapes of the mandibles
among the populations. Thus, intra-population diversity can is observed in the present study

 The variations observed are symmetrical variations which are said to have higher genetic
basis than asymmetrical variations. Thus, the morphological variation observed might also
represent some degree of genetic differentiation among the populations studied.

RECCOMENDATIONS

 Further analysis must be conducted to test the genetic basis of the observed
variations.

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