Banana Pests

Pests of National Significance

Insect pests

• Banana rhizome weevil: Cosmopolitus sordidus Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
• Banana stem weevil: Odoiporus longicollis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
• Banana leaf eating caterpiller: Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
• Banana aphid: Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
• Banana thrips:
  • Rust thrips: Cheatanophothrips signipennis Bagnall (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
  • Leaf thrips: Helionothrips kadaliphilus Ramak (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
  • Flower thrips: Thrips florum Schumtz (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
• Banana leaf and fruit scarring beetle: Nodostoma (Basilepta) subcostatum Jac. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
• Banana lacewing bug: Stephanitis typicus Distant (Hemiptera: Tingidae)

Diseases

• Panama wilt: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (E.F.Sm.) W.C.Snyder & H.N. Hansen
• Mycosphaerella leaf spot:
  • Yellow sigatoka: Mycosphaerella musicola R. Leach ex J.L. Mulder
  • Black sigatoka: Mycosphaerella fi jiensis Morelet
• Anthracnose: Colletrotrichum musae Green & Goos, Gloeosporium musarum Cke. & Massee
• Tip rot or bacterial soft rot: Erwinia carotovora (Jones) Edward
• Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD): Bunchy top virus or Banana virus - 1 or Musa virus–1
• Banana bract mosaic virus: Banana bract mosaic virus (BBMV; potyvirus)
• Banana streak disease (BSV): Banana streak virus (Badna virus)
• Infectious chlorosis: Cucumber mosaic virus (Cucumovirus)

Weeds

• Spiny pigweed: Amaranthus spinosus L. (Amaranthaceae)
• Slender pigweed: Amaranthus viridis Hook. F. (Amaranthaceae)
• Carrot weed: Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae)
• Common purslane: Portulaca olaracea L. (Portulacaceae)
• Tridax daisy: Tridax procumbens L. (Asteraceae)
• Spurge: Euphorbia hirta L., E. geniculata, Ortega (Euphorbiaceae)
• Knotweed: Polygonum plebeium R.Br. (Polygonaceae)
• Touch me not weed: Mimosa pudica L. (Mimosaceae)

• Bermuda grass: Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers (Poaceae)
• Crab grass: Digitaria sanguinalis L. Scop (Poaceae)
• Indian goosegrass: Eleusine indica L. Gaetrn (Poaceae)

• Purple nut sedge: Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae)

Pests of Regional Significance

Insect pests

• Hard scale: Aspidiotus destructor Signoret (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)
• Fruit fly: Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Karnataka)
• Bag worm: Kophene cuprea Moore. (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)
• Banana scab moth: Nacoleia octasema Meyr (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) (Uttar Pradesh)

Diseases

• Cigar end rot: Verticillium theobromae (Turconi) E.W. Mason & S. Hughes (Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala)
• Finger tip or black tip rots: Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat. (Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh)

Nematodes

• Burrowing nematode: Radopholus similis Cobb. (Manipur, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar  Pradesh)
• Root-lesion nematode: Pratylenchus coff eae Zimmerman. (Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu)
• Spiral nematode: Helicotylenchus multicinctus Cobb (Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra)
• Root knot nematode: Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood (Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh)

IPM for Banana

To know the IPM practices for Banana, click here.

Source: NIPHM and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage