Crop Pests in the Philippines

Local names: Kayumangging ngusong kabayo, kayumangging hanip

Local names: Itim na atangya

Local names: Atangya, dangaw

Local names: Mambibilot, maniniklop

The central shoot dries up and pulls out easily, which is a deadheart.

Small green wedge shaped insects jump or run sideways when you disturb the hills.

Small pale brown insects with a white stripe on the back sit low on the plant.

Yellow spots or streaks appear on the inner edges of new leaves.

Leaf tips are cut at right angles, as if with scissors.

White streaks run along the leaf, parallel to the midrib.

Leaves are chewed away, often including the veins, leaving only the midribs.

Local names: Kuhol

Tillers are cut at an angle and lie in the water, often in patches or in lines along the pilapil.

Seedlings are cut at the base and bare patches show in the seedbed or field.

Flocks of small brown or chestnut birds land on the panicles at the milky stage.

Pinholes in the leaves, tunnels in the stalk, broken tassels and bored ears.

Seedlings cut off at the base overnight, with a gray caterpillar curled in the soil nearby.

Ragged holes in the whorl and wet, sawdust like droppings.

Silks are chewed and frass lies at the ear tip.

Small greenish brown hoppers sit in the whorl and on the leaves, and jump when disturbed.

Leaves turn orange yellow, and plants wilt and stunt in patches.

Silvery streaks on onion leaves, curled sili leaves and scarred fruit.

Window pane spots, where the upper leaf skin stays and turns clear, show on the leaves.

Silk webbing and frass sit in the heart of young plants.

White, cotton like egg masses sit on the leaves.

Shoot tips that wilt and dry while the lower leaves stay green.

Leaf margins that curl upward and look yellowish or burned.

Small white flying insects that rise from the leaves when you shake the plant.

White, winding or coiled tunnels on the leaves, with a thin black line inside.

Small sting marks on young fruit where the female laid her eggs.

Round or irregular holes in the leaves, often starting at the leaf margins.

Flowers that are chewed, webbed together or dropping.

Small feeding holes in the young leaves.

White, waxy or cottony masses on leaves, stems, fruit stalks and fruit.

Small sting marks on the fruit skin where the female laid eggs.

Small flat scales crowd the underside of the leaflets.

Leaflets show V shaped or wedge shaped cuts when the frond opens.

The still folded spear leaf shows thin red brown streaks along its leaflets.

Holes appear at the base of the fronds or in the trunk.

Tunnels run through the corm and the base of the pseudostem.

Dark red brown aphids sit in colonies on leaf undersides, sheaths and young suckers.

Wedge shaped hoppers jump and fly with a clicking sound when you shake a flowering branch.

Tunnels in the pulp darken the flesh after the grub feeds.

Circular brown to black scab like spots are scattered over the fruit skin.

Pods ripen early and turn yellow unevenly.

A small round entry hole shows on the berry, with brown frass over it.

Local names: Aplat (Ilocano), dugos dugos (Cebuano)

The center leaf of a young seedling yellows and dies, with a cream colored maggot boring down inside the shoot.

Pale yellow to gray aphids pack the underside of the lower leaves, which turn shiny with honeydew and then black with sooty mold.

Seedlings one to four weeks old show dead hearts, where the center leaf dries and pulls out easily while the outer leaves stay green.

Local names: Dugos dugos (Cebuano, for aphids)

Green stink bugs or slender brown bugs suck the young pods, leaving dark spots, shriveled seeds and pods that drop early.

Local names: Bukbok

Leaves are folded or webbed together and eaten from inside, leaving a silvery, papery look.

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

Green shield shaped bugs that smell when touched suck the young pods, which turn warty, bent or fall.

Big green or brown caterpillars with a horn on the tail eat whole leaves, leaving bare stalks and large droppings below.

Tubers and rhizomes, most often in storage, are crusted with tiny round gray to brown scales, then shrivel and sprout poorly.

Leaves are folded and tied with silk, and small caterpillars inside eat windows in the leaf until it turns brown.

Caterpillars bore into the leafy stem, leaving a hole with frass, and the center shoot yellows and dries.

Green caterpillars with a black head fold the leaves lengthwise and feed hidden inside the rolls, and heavy attacks strip the leaves.

Roots have small feeding holes and dark tunnels inside, smell bad and taste bitter, and the vine base is cracked and swollen.

Stems are crusted with tiny white scales, leaves yellow and drop, and cuttings taken from these stems sprout poorly.

Small caterpillars mine the leaves and stems, then tunnel into tubers near the surface and in storage, leaving holes with dark droppings.

Beetles and their grubs chew holes in the leaves and eat the vine tips, and heavy attacks leave the vines bare.

Clusters of small soft green, gray or black insects suck under young leaves, which curl, turn sticky and grow black sooty mold.

Lower leaves get tiny yellow dots, turn rusty brown and fall in the dry season, with fine webbing under the leaves.

Groups of green caterpillars with a reddish brown head web the heart leaves together and eat the growing point and the young head.

Tiny shiny black beetles with yellow stripes jump away when touched and pepper young leaves with small round holes.

Young fruits show dark spots where the bugs fed, unripe fruits fall, and in bad cases the vines wilt.

Tip leaves turn small, thick, curled down and bronze, and the shoot stops growing, while the mites are too tiny to see.

Orange beetles with black spots and their yellow spiny grubs scrape the leaves into lacy windows between the veins.

Green caterpillars with thin white stripes along the sides arch their backs as they crawl and chew ragged holes in the leaves, leaving the veins.

Green or pinkish aphids crowd the underside of the young and middle leaves, which turn sticky and curl.

Dark green to yellow aphids cluster under the young leaves, which curl down and turn sticky and black with sooty mold.

Green looping caterpillars eat the top leaves and buds, leaving ragged leaves and shoots that branch.

Flat gray brown slugs feed at night and chew holes into ripening berries and leaves, leaving shiny slime trails.

Local names: Anay

Local names: Tilas (abaca, Cebuano)

Flowers stay closed like rosettes, and small pink caterpillars inside the green bolls eat the seeds and stain the lint.

Red and black bugs feed on the bolls, young bolls shrivel, and the lint comes out stained.

Small cases made of chewed leaf bits hang under the fronds, and the leaves turn gray and ragged as if scorched.

Young shoots show dead hearts, and older canes have bore holes, tunnels and frass at the nodes.

Small flat scales with reddish stripes and white cottony egg sacs crowd the leaves, which turn sticky, black with sooty mold, then dry.

White woolly patches of aphids cover the underside of the leaves, and the leaves below turn black with sooty mold and dry from the tip.

Leaf tips turn red, then yellow and pink, curl down and dry, while pink mealybugs hide at the base of the plant and on the roots.

Local names: Bukbok

Tiny round white scales crowd on the leaves and fruit, the leaves show small rusty or yellow spots, and heavy crusts weaken the plant and mar the fruit.

Tiny orange red mites gather at the pale base of the leaves and on the crown and fruit, leaving brown scabby patches where they feed.

Small flat or domed bumps crowd on leaves, twigs and fruits, the plant yellows and weakens, and black sooty mold follows.

White waxy spirals of eggs and fluffy white nymphs cover the underside of leaves, with sticky honeydew and black sooty mold on top.

Small brown jumping bugs and their nymphs with white waxy threads crowd on new flushes, which curl and twist, and they spread citrus greening.

Small caterpillars tunnel in the rind of young fruits, leaving gummy entry holes and corky scars, and many fruits rot or drop.

Zigzag tunnels, cuts and rough edges show on the bark with oozing gum, and branches above the damage wilt and dry.

Buff colored mealybugs with short waxy filaments pack on fruits, leaves and twigs, fruits stay small and black with sooty mold, and trees decline.

Pinkish red caterpillars tunnel inside branches and young stems, pushing sawdust out of small holes, and the part above wilts and dies.

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.

Leaf edges are cut and rolled into tubes, each with a caterpillar covered in white powder inside.

Caterpillars bore into the fruit, leaving holes with brown frass and webbing, and the flesh inside turns black and rots.

Young fingers get tiny black specks that grow into rough corky scab, or reddish brown rust where fingers touch, and badly hit fruit splits open.

Caterpillars bore in near the tip of young fruits and eat the flesh and seed, leaving holes that ooze, and the fruits crack, rot and drop.

Caterpillars bore into flower spikes, shoots and young fruits, leaving holes with brown frass, and the fruits rot or drop.

Flies sting the rind of maturing fruits, maggots feed inside, and the flesh under the sting marks turns soft and rotten.

Beetle larvae bore into twigs and small branches, which wilt, dry and break off.

Leaves get crowded with tiny white and brown scales, yellow and drop early, fruits stay few, small and sour, and badly hit trees can die.

Larvae feed under the bark of the trunk and main branches, leaving frass and dead, peeling bark patches, and weak trees bear less.

Caterpillars bore into young and growing fruits through the stalk, base or side, leaving holes with frass, and fruits rot or drop.

Local names: bao bao

Tiny black or brown beetles drill many pinholes in the trunk and main branches of stressed trees, often together with Phytophthora canker.

Hairy caterpillars with tufts on the back eat young flushes and leaves, leaving ragged leaves; the hairs can sting the skin.

Small green caterpillars web and scrape the leaflets until only the veins are left, and whole trees can be stripped bare in the dry season.

Small brown beetles and their grubs bore into the pods and seeds, leaving round exit holes and powder, and the damage keeps growing in stored pods.