Groundnut Leaf Miner
Aproaerema modicella
📖 Description
Groundnut Leaf Miner (GLM) is a major pest of groundnut and soybean across the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Adult female moths lay eggs on tender leaflets. Newly hatched larvae mine between the upper and lower epidermis of leaflets, creating whitish transparent blotch mines. Older larvae fold leaflets with silk and feed inside, causing dried brown patches. Heavy infestation causes premature leaf drop, stunting, and significant yield loss. The pest is most damaging to late-sown and ratoon groundnut crops. Because larvae feed inside mines and folded leaflets, contact insecticides are largely ineffective — systemic insecticides and biological control are essential. The pest has 6-8 overlapping generations per season, requiring continuous management.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Whitish transparent mines (blotches) between leaf epidermis, folded leaflets stitched with silk, dried and brown leaflets, frass inside mines, premature leaf drop, stunted plants, yield loss 30-50% in severe infestation
🩹 Treatment
- Apply neem oil 5ml/L with sticker, spray Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2g/L, use recommended insecticides at early larval stage, set up light traps @ 1/ha, conserve parasitoids
🌿 Organic treatments
- Apply neem oil 5 ml/L with sticker, spray Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2 g/L in evening, apply 5% NSKE, set up light traps @ 1/ha for adult monitoring, release Trichogramma chilonis @ 50,000/ha, apply neem cake @ 250 kg/ha as basal, handpick mined leaflets and destroy
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 0.5 g/L, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 1 ml/L, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.3 ml/L, Spinosad 45 SC @ 0.5 ml/L, Lambda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 1 ml/L (apply at early larval stage)
🛡️ Prevention
- Plant early to escape peak moth activity, inspect crop weekly for early mines, handpick mined leaflets and destroy, set up light traps for adult monitoring, balanced fertilizer use, conserve parasitoids (Trichogramma, Apanteles) by avoiding broad-spectrum insecticides, practice crop rotation with non-hosts, destroy volunteer plants and weeds
🪴 Affected plants
- Groundnut (Primary), Soybean, Pigeon Pea, Black Gram, Green Gram, Some Legumes
🦋 Natural predators
- Trichogramma chilonis, Apanteles spp., Spiders, Predatory Bugs, Syrphid Larvae
🌱 Host plants
- Arachis hypogaea, Glycine max, Cajanus cajan, Vigna mungo, Vigna radiata
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 50-150 eggs singly on tender leaflets.
- Eggs hatch in 3-5 days.
- Larvae mine leaves for 8-15 days, passing through 4 instars.
- Pupation occurs inside folded leaflets or in soil, lasting 5-8 days.
- Adults live 7-12 days.
- Total life cycle 17-30 days; 6-8 overlapping generations per year.
📅 Season
- Year-round in tropical climates, peaks Jun-Sep during Kharif groundnut season
🔎 Appearance
- Adults are small, dark brownish-grey moths with a white spot on each forewing.
- Larvae are small, greenish-white caterpillars with a brown head, growing up to 8 mm, found mining inside groundnut leaflets.
💥 Damage level
- High
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Fast
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Southeast Asia
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