Insect Mass Rearing and Rice Culture

Brown planthopper population used in the experiments were originally collected from rice fields in Hangzhou (E120°12, N30°16), China. Successive generations were maintained on the susceptible rice variety TN1 in a climatic chamber under constant conditions of 26 ± 1°C, 70–80% relative humidity and a 16 h light/8 h dark photoperiod. The TN1 seedlings were cultured in 14 cm diameter plastic pots and used for BPH mass rearing at the tillering stage (height: 14–16 cm).