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