Category Archives: Banana Pests

Banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa) Credit: Biovision-Infonet Banana aphids (Pentalonia nigronervosa) often gather on the youngest leaves of young plants. They may form large colonies where they are uncontrolled and protected by ants. They feed by piercing the plant cells with a syringe-like mouthpart. Colony of banana aphids feeding on a young banana plant (highly magnified), real size 1-2mm. […]

Fruit flies (Bactrocera invadens and Ceratitis rosa) Credit: Biovision-Infonet Two species of fruit flies (Bactrocera invadens and Ceratitis rosa) attack banana in Kenya. Bactrocera invadens is a new species recently discovered in Africa, its 2-3mm in size. This fruit fly is reported attacking banana in Sudan and Kenya and it is a major threat since it leads to rejection of banana […]

Banana silvering thrips (Hercinothrips bicinctus) Credit: Biovision-Infonet Banana-silvering thrips are small (1.5 mm long), slender, brown insects with pale yellow hind wings that appear as a yellow line down the back of the body when the insect is at rest. Adult thrips have characteristic wings; the transparent wings have a fringe of hairs around the […]

Banana weevil borer (Cosmopolites sordidus) Credit: Biovision-Infonet The banana weevil is the most important insect pest of banana. It is about 1-1.5 cm long. The larva (grub) is most destructive: It bores irregular tunnels in the rhizome/corm and pseudostems at ground level. A large proportion of the tissue is destroyed, this reduces the amount of water […]

Burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis) Credit: Biovision-Infonet The burrowing nematode is the most destructive nematode species attacking bananas. Dark patches or spots on the roots indicate nematode infestation. Severely infected plants may show only stubs of rotted roots and may fall down when the bunch has formed. Bananas are also attacked by other nematode species such […]