Oryza glaberrima mature more quickly, and may be sown directly on higher ground, eliminating the need to transplant seedlings. Most is rain-watered, and the soil is often not cultivated. African rice has profuse vegetative growth, which smothers weeds. It exhibits better resistance to various rice pests and diseases, such as blast disease, African rice gall midge ("Orseolia oryzivora"), parasitic nematodes ("Heterodera sacchari" and "Meloidogyne" spp.), rice stripe necrosis virus, rice yellow mottle virus, and the parasitic plant "Striga". Most African rices shatter more than Asian rices, possibly because they have not been domesticated for as long. A few varieties of African rice
Elasmopalpus brown anterior and distal margins. The larvae feed on a wide range of plants but prefer grasses. Recorded host plants include a number of economically important plants such as "Phaseolus vulgaris", "Beta vulgaris", "Brassica oleracea" var. "capitata", "Cucumis melo", "Cyperus esculentus", "Zea mays", "Vigna unguiculata", "Phaseolus lunatus", "Avena sativa", "Pisum sativum", "Arachis hypogaea", "Capsicum annuum", "Oryza sativa", "Secale cereale", "Sorghum bicolor", "Glycine max", "Sorghum sudanense", "Saccharum officinarum", "Ipomoea batatas", "Lycopersicon esculentum", "Brassica rapa" and "Triticum aestivum". They tunnel into the crown of their host plant, severely weakening large plants and often killing young seedlings. They spin silken tubes near the