Category Archives: Mango Pests

Mango seed weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae) Credit: Biovision-Infonet It feeds on mango leaves, tender shoots or flower buds. Female weevils lay one egg on the young fruit leaving a small, dark mark on the fruit skin. The larvae burrow through the flesh into the seed and destroy it. The larva develops and grows in the mango […]

Mango aphid (Toxoptera odinae) Credit: Biovision-Infonet It is small (1.1 to 2.5 mm long), brown, black or reddish brown aphid covered with a light powdery dusting. Aphids live in clusters sucking sap on the underside of young leaves, on petioles, young branches and fruit. Their feeding causes slight rolling, or twisting of the leaf midrib. […]

Whiteflies and black flies (Aleurocanthus woglumi) Credit: Biovision-Infonet Whiteflies and black flies suck sap from leaves and may weaken the plants when numbers are high. They produce large amount of honeydew where sooty mould develops. High numbers of these insects can almost blacken trees, reducing photosynthesis and may cause leaf drop debilitating the tree. Adults are small […]

Mango gall flies (Erosomyia mangifera) Credit: Biovision-Infonet It is a small midge about 1 to 2 mm long with long legs and antenna. The flies lay eggs on young leaves. Eggs hatch into maggots that bore into the leaf tissue to feed. Their feeding induces formation of small galls, which look like pimples on the […]

Credit: Biovision-Infonet Fruit flies lay eggs under the skin of mature green and ripening fruit. Some fruit flies such as Bactrocera invadens, a new species recently introduced into East Africa, also lay eggs on small fruit. The eggs hatch into whitish maggots within 1 to 2 days. The maggots feed on the fruit flesh and the […]