Banana Pseudostem Weevil
Odoiporus longicornis
📖 Description
Banana Pseudostem Weevil is a major pest of banana across the Indian subcontinent, particularly destructive in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. The grub tunnels inside the pseudostem, weakening the plant and causing toppling during wind. Once a plantation is infested, the pest is extremely difficult to eradicate because grubs are protected inside the pseudostem. Management must be preventive — pest-free planting material, neem cake amendment, sanitation, and timely removal of infested plants. The pest prefers plants under stress (drought, waterlogging, nutrient deficiency), so maintaining vigorous crop growth is essential. Biopesticides like Beauveria bassiana applied to pseudostem traps have shown promise as organic alternatives to chemical insecticides.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Pinhole with extruded sap and excreta on pseudostem, splitting and weakening of pseudostem, yellowing and wilting of leaves, premature snapping of pseudostem, rotting of inner tissue, complete plant loss in severe cases, yield loss 30-90%
🩹 Treatment
- Clean cultivation and field sanitation, spray Chlorpyriphos @ 2.5 ml/L on pseudostem, apply neem cake @ 250 g/pit at planting, use pseudostem injection with Monocrotophos (where permitted), destroy infested plants
🌿 Organic treatments
- Apply neem cake @ 250 g/pit at planting + 100 g/plant at 3rd and 5th month, Beauveria bassiana @ 5 g/L as pseudostem spray, Metarhizium anisopliae @ 5 g/L as soil drench, entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis) @ 1 billion/ha, trap adults with banana pseudostem traps treated with B. bassiana
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Chlorpyriphos 20 EC @ 2.5 ml/L (pseudostem spray + soil drench), Carbaryl 50 WP @ 4 g/L, Monocrotophos 36 SL @ 1 ml/plant by pseudostem injection (banned in some states), Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 0.5 ml/L as soil drench
🛡️ Prevention
- Use healthy, pest-free suckers (pare and dip in 0.5% Beauveria solution before planting), clean cultivation and removal of crop residues, avoid injury to pseudostem during intercultural operations, desucker regularly and destroy infested suckers, apply neem cake at planting, plant resistant cultivars (Nendran less preferred)
🪴 Affected plants
- Banana (all cultivars), Plantain, Abaca
🦋 Natural predators
- Predatory Ants (Oecophylla), Ground Beetles, Predatory Mites, Birds, Toads
🌱 Host plants
- Musa spp., Musa paradisiaca, Musa balbisiana
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 20-50 eggs in cavities chewed into the pseudostem.
- Eggs hatch in 5-8 days.
- Grubs tunnel and feed inside pseudostem for 35-60 days through 5 instars.
- Pupation inside fibrous cocoon in pseudostem, lasting 8-14 days.
- Adult lifespan 60-180 days.
- Total life cycle 50-90 days; 3-4 overlapping generations per year.
📅 Season
- Year-round, peaks during warm months (Mar-Jun and Sep-Nov)
🔎 Appearance
- Adult is a black to dark reddish-brown, elongated cylindrical weevil with a long curved rostrum.
- Some morphs (polymorphic) have a yellowish-orange stripe along the elytra.
- Grubs are white, apodous, C-shaped with a brown head.
- Pupae are pale yellow inside fibrous cocoon in pseudostem.
💥 Damage level
- Severe
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Moderate
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- South Asia
- Southeast Asia
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