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Groundnut leafminer

Small brown blotches appear on the leaflets where tiny green caterpillars mine inside, then fold the leaflets together.

Aproaerema modicella (Stomopteryx subsecivella) Insect Fact sheet
A groundnut leafminer moth (Aproaerema), the tiny moth whose caterpillars mine peanut and soybean leaves
Photo: Jean Paul Boerekamps, CC0, via iNaturalist

Crops it attacks

Mani Peanut Utaw Soybean

Where the damage shows

On the leaves

When to act

Weekly from 3 weeks after emergence, check 20 plants at 5 spots for mined or webbed leaflets with live larvae. Act when more than 1 in 4 leaflets is damaged before pod filling, mostly in dry spells.

What to spray

Active ingredients only, never brands. The IRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the pest does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.

How to prevent it

  • Plant early in the wet season. The miner builds up fast in dry weather.
  • Water during dry spells where you can. Stressed plants suffer most.
  • Rotate with crops outside the bean family and remove legume weeds around the field.
  • Intercropping peanut with corn or pearl millet cuts miner numbers.
  • Plow under crop remains after harvest to destroy pupae.

Natural enemies and biological help

  • Many small wasps parasitize the larvae in the mines. Broad sprays kill them first.

Where this comes from

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