Banana Injurious Insects

A Lecture To ToT trainees

( FFS) By

Mr. Allah Dad Khan Provincial Coordinator

IPM KPK MINFAL Pakistan

Banana Aphids

Symptoms

Deformed plants with curled, shriveled leaves; if infestation is severe, galls may form on leaves; colonies of aphids usually present in crown of plant at base of pseudostem or between the outer leaf sheaths; aphid is soft-bodied and red-brown to almost black in color

Banana Aphids

Coconut scaleAspidiotus destructor

Symptoms Close up view of colony of coconut scale on banana leaf

Small, flat, whitish scales, usually on undersides of leaves but may also attach to petioles, peduncles and fruit; plant tissue discolored and yellowing

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus

SymptomsAdult banana weevils

Reduced plant growth; reduced fruit production; tunnels may be visible in corm as rounded holes up to 8 mm in diameter; plants wilting and toppling over; destruction of root system; plant death; adult insect is a hard-shelled beetle which is almost black in color; adult is commonly found between leaf sheaths; larvae are creamy-white, legless grubs with a red-brown head

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus

Banana weevil larvaWeevil damage on pieces of banana corm

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus

Banana weevil damageWeevil damage to banana

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus

Weevil damage to banana

Banana corm damaged by weevils

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus

Weevil damage to banana

Banana flower thrips (Thrips hawaiiensis),

banana rust thrips Scarring from flower thrips egg-laying on young fruit when still covered by the bracts. Note raised black spots

(Chaetanaphothrips signipennis) and banana-silvering thrips (Hercinothrips bicinctusare) are insect pests that damage and scar developing fruit. They feed on the leaves and the stem of the banana bunch. A soft-bodied tiny insect, they are a persistant problem in banana plantations worldwide. Ladybugs and lacewings are natural predators of thrips

Banana spider mitemite: Tetranychus piercei

Mite damage attacks tropical fruit

crops overseas closely related to two-

spotted spider mite nymphs and adults spin

webs yellow spots on leaves all parts of plant affected fruit ripening delayed,

yield reduced

Banana skipper butterflybutterfly: Erionota thrax

Larvae also known as banana

leafroller found in South East Asia,

Papua New Guinea and Pacific brown butterfly with three

yellow-white areas on wings eggs on lower leaf surfaces larvae covered by white

powder caterpillars eat leaves and

cause rolling affects bunch size