General Information

Common name: Leafminer
Scientific name: Liriomysa spp.
Diptera:Agromyzidae

Host plants

Vegetables, root crops, cereals, legumes, ornamentals, fruits, weeds

Distribution

India, China, Philippines, Japan, the Middle East, Australia, West Africa, Central America, USA

Damage

Larvae make long, slender, winding, white tunnels in leaves. Severely mined leaves may turn yellow, disfigured, and drop. Severely mined seedlings are stunted and eventual death occurs (Olkowski; Daar; Olkowski, 1991: p.390).

Description

Eggs are laid under the surface of leaf epidermis, are ovate, creamy-white in color, and tiny- about 0.10-0.15 mm in diameter. The eggs hatch after 2-5 days. n

Larva is legless, whitish to yellow-green with a darker head. It has a mouth-hook structure that is retractable into the body. A newly hatched larva tunnels through the mid-leaf tissues leaving its characteristic wavy lines that are visible on top of the leaf. It undergoes 3 larval stages that lasts for 4-7 days. When the larva is ready to pupate, it cuts a hole where it stays and feeds and usually drops to the soil to pupate.

Pupa varies in color, from yellowish-brown to almost black, and distinctly segmented. It is oval-shaped, becoming narrow at the end. The pupal stage lasts for 10-12 days.

Adult is a small fly, about 2.5 mm long. It is grayish to black with yellow markings. Female flies are slightly larger than males (Olkowski; Daar; Olkowski, 1991: p.390).