Serpentine leaf miner

Serpentine leaf miner

2. Serpentine leaf miner, Liriomyza trifolii (Agromyzidae: Diptera)

Distribution: All over the world.

Host plants: Large number of host plants including tomato, capsicum, potato, black gram, cowpea, peas, beans, cruciferous crops, cucurbits, okra, cotton, many ornamental plants and weeds

Damage:
  • Damage is caused by the larvae
  • Feed on the palisade mesophyll tissue in between the two epidermis of the leaf.
  • Infested leaves become transparent papery in the mined areas
  • Photosynthesis is reduced.
  • The attack appears during April and is more pronounced from June onwards.
Identification:
  • Eggs: Newly laid eggs are white, translucent and turn opaque as the development advances.
  • Larvae: The larvae are orange yellow, apodous. They move through peristaltic action between the two epidermis. Full-grown maggots are1.88 x 0.70 mm.
  • Pupae: Orange yellow initially which turn dark-brown on maturity. They measure1.84 X 0.68 mm
  • Adults: The adults are minute grayish black flies with plum red eyes and a yellow spot on the scutellum. The females are bigger (2.01x0.61mm) in size than males (1.79x0.52 mm).
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Life cycle:
  • Eggs hatch in 2-3 days
  • First, second and third larval stages develop in 2-3, 1-3 and 5-7 days
  • Pupal period lasts for 8-10 days.
  • Preoviposition period 1-3 days
  • Oviposition period is 8-15 days.
  • Post-oviposition period is for 1-3 days.
  • Male longevity is 8-12 days
  • Fmales live up to13-17 days
Salient features
  • The eggs are deposited singly in close proximity by embedding them in to the leaf tissue.
  • Larvae feed through peristaltic action between the two epidermis
  • Fecundity is 22-186 eggs
  • Many generations in a year
Management:
  • Judicious use of nitrogenous fertilizer reduces the build up of the pest in endemic areas.
  • Severely infested leaves should be removed and destroyed.
  • NSKE @ 4.0 per cent along with sticker is effective.
  • The pest can be controlled by spraying the crop with triazophos (0.15%) or deltamethrin (0.0028%) or imidacloprid (0.0075%).
  • Natural enemies especially larval and pupal parasitoids are active during July-August
Last modified: Saturday, 3 March 2012, 6:05 AM