The document summarizes various pests that affect common tropical fruits in Sri Lanka such as guava, mango, banana, pomegranate, citrus fruits, papaya, and jackfruit. It describes each pest's life cycle, including egg laying locations, larval feeding behaviors, and pupation sites. It also outlines the types of damage caused by each pest and potential control methods.

1. Project GCP/SRL/059/EC
Enhancing food security and nutrition among
the most vulnerable farm families in eastern
Sri Lanka

2. PESTS OF GAUVA

3. Sucks sap from
leaves and
produces honey
dew
Gauva White Fly
Laid underside of leaves.
White colour found in
masses on under side
of leaves
 Leaves turn black due to sooty mould fungus on
honey dew secreted by the white fly & nymphs.
 Reduction of fruit set
White clour

4. •Maggots feeds on the pulp
•Fruits fall down overnight & unfit for human consumption.
Gauva Fruit Fly
Control
Collection and
destruction of fallen fruits.
 Bait for flies or bait spray
Residue - 10 –day interval for
harvesting.
* Dacus dorsalis also attacks gauva

5. Gauva Mealy Bug Gauva scale insect

6. PESTS OF MANGO

7. Sucks sap from
tender leaves and
inflorescence
Mango Brown Hopper
Singly in tissues of young
leaves, shoots, flower
stalks, unopened leaves.
Hide under the leaves
and in cracks in the
bark
 Flowers & buds dry up & drop.
 Reduction of fruit set & premature fall of fruits
 Flower stalks & leaves become sticky due to honey
dew secreted by the hoppers.
 Sooty mould fungus develops on the honey dew
areas and the leaf & inflorescence show dark colour
powder on them
Brown colour
hopper

8. Sucks sap from
tender leaves and
injects toxic saliva
Mango Green Hopper
Singly in tissues of young
leaves, shoots,
Hide under the leaves
Leaf tips turn into brown
colour and get crinkled.
Green colour
hopper

9. Eggs are laid in small
clusters of 2 -15 eggs just
beneath the skin of the
fruit 1- 4 mm deep.
Maggots grow feeding
on the pulp
Pupates in the
soil
Dark brown fly
with hyaline wings
& yellow legs
Mango Fruit Fly
• Adults oviposition puncture on the fruit serves as entry to fermenting
organisms
• Maggots destroy and convert the pulp into a bad smelling,
discoloured semi-liquid mass unfit for use.
• Fruits develop brown rotten patches ob them and fall to the ground.
Control: Collection &
destruction promptly of
infested fruits
Spraying bait sprays.

10. Laid just under the rind of
the ripening fruit.
Oviposition puncture
heals & remains as a
dark minute spot.
Larva tunnels its way straight into the stone
wherein it grows feeding on the internal
contents.
Pupates inside
the stone
Stout built dark
brown weevil
Found inside the
stone of the fruit
Mango Stone Weevil
Adults emerging out of the pupae
remain inside the stone till they
are thrown away after the
consumption of the pulp. Weevils
remain hidden in the crevices on
the tree trunks till the next fruiting
season.
Control::
•Bagging of fruits
•Destruction of fallen
fruits

11. Laid singly within minute
holes bitten on the lower
sides of tender leaves
Grub mines the leaves
Pupates in an
oval chamber
within the mine
Minute jumping
weevil with thick
hind femora
Mango Leaf Mining Weevil
•Damage to tender leaves by larva mining within them
• Adults scrape the leaf surface
• Leaves show brown margins and finally crumble and dry up

12. One egg laid in each leaf
roll
Grub feeds within the
leaf tissues in the leaf
roll
Pupates in the
leaf roll
Medium size,
reddish brown
weevil with long
snout
Mango Leaf Twisting Weevil
•Cuts & twists the mango leaves
into neat thimble-shaped structure
• Serous in the nursery.
• Attacks Jak and Jambu navel.
Adult bores its
way out of the
roll

13. Scale Insect in mango Mealy bugs in mango
Mealy bug infested twig
Females entering soil for oviposition
Scale infested leaf
Natural enemies of scale insect

14. PESTS OF BANANA

15. Sucks sap from
stem & transmits
virus causing
bunchy top
disease.
Banana Aphid
Brownish
colour & black
veined wings
Lives in colonies
within the leaf axils,
on tender leaves and
at base of culm at
ground level

16. Laid in small burrows on
the root stock or within
leaf sheath just above the
ground.
Yellowish Apodous
grub with reddish head.
Bores into the rhizome
and tunnels within it.
Pupates within
a chamber
made near the
outer surface of
the rhyzome.
Stout reddish
brown weevil
Banana Root Weevil
•Central shoot is killed & plant shows premature withering
•Leaves become scarce
•Fruits become undersized
•Suckers are killed.
Adult tunnels
within the stem
feeding on the
internal tissues

17. Laid in stem
Tunnels within the
pseudostem in all
directions
Pupates within
the
pseudostem.
Stout reddish
brown and black
weevil
Banana Stem Weevil
• Plant dies when t he heart of the stem is damaged.
• Secondary infection by fermentation & decay
Adult tunnels
within the stem
feeding on the
internal tissues

18. PESTS OF POMEGRANATE

19. Laid singly on
flower or on
tender fruits
Bores into the fruit where the rind is
thin & soft. Dark brown colour and light
patches and short hairs on the body
Larva comes out ,
secures the stalk of
the fruit to the stem
with a silky secretion
returns inside the
fruit & pupates.
Pupation can take
place outside the fruit
also.
Violet brown
colour
Pomegranate Fruit Borer
•Larva feeding causes 40 % to 90 % damage to
the fruits
Control :
Check for eggs &
destroy manually.
Bagging of flowers
& fruits.

20. Squirrel attack in Pomegranate

21. PESTS OF LIME/SWEET ORANGE

22. Single eggs
attached to
leaves & twigs
Larva enters the leaf tissues and
start s mining
Full grown larva
pupates in a leaf curl
at the leaf margin
within a silver
cocoon.
Tiny silvery white
moth with fringed
wings
Citrus Leaf Miner
• Injury is caused by the larva mining the leaves
• Mined leaves turn pale and curl up
Control : Prompt
pruning to remove
and destroy
infested leaves.

23. Laid singly ( 1 – 3)
on leaves
Caterpillar grows feeding on the leaves.
Early stages caterpillar brownish to black
colour with white patches. Later stages,
caterpillar is stout & greenish colour.
Pupa on plant, The
chrysalis being
attached to the plant
by its tail and held
with a silken girdle.
Black & yellow
swallow tail butter
fly
Citrus Butterfly
• Caterpillar causes defoliation of leaves. Svedling & young plants suffer most.
Control : Collecting
& destroying the
caterpillar
When disturbed the caterpillar
pushes out from the top of its
prothorax a ‘Y’ structure which emits
a distinct smell.

24. Adults & nymphs
sucks sap from
leaves, stem &
fruits
Papaw Mealy Bug
Soft yellow
body covered
by white
powdery
secretion
Found on
underside of
leaves & fruits
Egg mass is
covered by an
outer shell
1st instar
crawls to
other
plants
Found on underside of
leaves & fruits
•Plant growth affected by toxic
saliva injected during sucking
sap process.
• Due to the honey dew
produced by the insects sooty
mould develops causing b
lack appearance on the
leaves & fruits

25. Laid singly on
flower or on
tender fruits
Pink larva with black warts and bristly
hairs bores into the tender shoots,
flower buds & young fruits.
Pupation on
the fruit
Dirty white moth
with brown wavy
markings
Jak Fruit Borer
• Larva causes damage to fruits and fruit quality is affected.
Control :
Bagging of fruits
Dust the fruit with
BHC dust

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