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Mosquito bug (Helopeltis)

Dark sunken spots and scabby lesions appear on young pods, shoots and nuts where the slender red and black bugs feed, and shoots dry out.

Helopeltis spp. (Helopeltis collaris, Helopeltis bakeri) Insect Fact sheet
A mosquito bug (Helopeltis), the thin, long legged plant bug of cacao and cashew
Photo: AnnLazaro, CC BY SA, via iNaturalist

Crops it attacks

Kakaw Cacao Kasoy Cashew Bayabas Guava

Where the damage shows

On fruits, pods or nutsIn the stems, vines or trunkOn the leaves

When to act

Each week look at the young pods, shoots and nuts of 20 trees, early in the morning when the bugs feed. Fresh dark water soaked spots on many young pods or new cashew shoots in one week mean act. Old dry scabs do not.

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

  • Harvest pods on time and remove damaged and black pods, so bugs have fewer young pods to feed on.
  • Prune water sprouts and thin the canopy and shade so trees are not dark and damp, where the bugs build up.
  • Watch most closely during flushing and early pod or nut growth, when damage hurts most.
  • Clear wild hosts of the bug near the farm, and do not plant guava, cashew and cacao side by side without checking all three.
  • Spot spray only the trees with fresh damage, not the whole farm, so the ants stay.

Natural enemies and biological help

  • Black cocoa ants and weaver ants (hantik) drive the bugs off pods. Help them nest in the trees and keep sprays off them.
  • Assassin bugs, spiders and Beauveria bassiana also kill Helopeltis in humid weather.

Where this comes from

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