(Serpentine leaf miner: Liriomyza trifolii)
Damage symptoms
Drying dropping of leaves in severe cases
Symptoms and Effects: The damage that results from leaf miner activity may appear as blisters, blotchy mines, or serpentine tunnels. Feces of larvae can contaminate leafy tissue intended for consumption.
Hosts
Bean, beet, carrot, celery, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, melon, onion, pea, pepper, potato, squash, tomato, Pea leaf miner has an equally broad host range that includes broccoli, cauliflower, Vegetable leaf miner feeds on many of the same plants as the other species, especially those in the cucurbit, legume, and solanaceous families.
Biology
Egg: Eggs are minute in size and orange yellow in colour. The egg hatches in 4 to 5 days.
Larva: Apodous maggot feeds on chlorophyll mining in between epidermal layers. Full grown maggot measures 3 mm. Larval duration is about 7 days.
Pupa: Pupation is in soil. Some pupae are found in leaves. Pupation takes place inside a thin loose mesh of silken cocoon. Pupal period is about 7 days.
Adult: It is a pale yellowish fly, measuring 1.6 mm in length. The female fly punctures upper surface of leaf to lay eggs singly. Total life cycle takes 3 weeks.
Favourable conditions
Warm weather conditions are favourable for multiplication.
Management:
Cultural Control
- Collect and destroy mined leaves.
- Remove plants near vegetable gardens and fields that are known to be leaf miner hosts.
- Ornamentals such as chrysanthemum, marigold, dahlia, gerbera, and gypsophila.
- Immediately after the final harvest, remove plants and deeply plough crop residues to remove food sources and inhibit pupal development.
- Rotate crop plantings.
- Use adequate irrigation to keep plants healthy and reduce stress
Chemical Control
Spray Neemoil 1500 PPM 2.5 ml/lit
Triazophos 2 ml/lit.
Cyantraniliprole OD 2ml/lit.
You can spray a systemic insecticide, such as acephate, to kill the tunneling larvae. Carbaryl or pyrethrin are effective if sprayed just as the larvae are hatching.
