Pest:American serpentine leaf miner

This is a major pest of cow pea.

  • serpentine image1
  • serpentine image2

Symptoms

  • The damage caused by single larva is minimal.
  • However,when large populations are present they are capable of destroying leaves affecting growth of plants.
  • The larvae of the fly remaining inside the leaf mine feed on the contents.
  • The damage causes tightly coiled almost blotch like mines.
  • The mined portion of the leaves later dries affecting the photosynthetic capacity of the affected plants.

Procedure for Observation

Select 10 leaves each ( at random) from ten plants and assess the percentage of damage and workout the average per plant.Less than 5% mild 5-10% moderate; more than 10% severe.

ETL

  • 5%
  • Control Measures

  • Remove the infested lower leaves and destroy.
  • Spray 2% neem oil garlic emulsion diluted in water before 8AM.
  • Include neem cake along with organic manure in the manuring schedule.
  • Spray Beauveria bassiana @ 20g/L or 5 ml /l after neem oil garlic emulsion spray.