Grape colaspis, also known as the lespedeza worm, the pest, a tiny oval beetle that feeds on a variety of plants, could pose a threat for growers in some key Arkansas rice counties.

According to Chuck Wilson, an agronomist with the University of Arkansas' Cooperative Extension Service, the problem is primarily in three counties - Arkansas, Lonoke and Prairie - that together account for about 250,000 of the state's 1.4 million-acre rice crop.

There is little that can be done to fight the pest, farmers say, except to increase planted seeds. Damage from the grape colaspis can prompt even more damage from the rice weevil, which zeroes in on fields that have already been thinned.