African bollworm and other pod borers

Several caterpillars are important pests as pod borers in common beans and French beans. The most common are the African bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and the legume pod borer (Maruca testulalis). They feed on leaves, flowers, pods and seeds. The African bollworm caterpillars are 3 to 4 cm long. They make clean circular holes in the pods. One caterpillar may damage several pods. Caterpillars of the legume pod borer attack pods at the point of contact with other pods, leaves or the stem. They frequently web together flowers, pods and leaves with excrements.

Pod borers usually do not cause significant yield reduction in beans. However, they are quarantine pests, and are particularly important in French beans grown for export. If only 1 caterpillar is found in a consignment sent to Europe, the whole consignment may be rejected. If pod borers are found in a field, the beans harvested should be sorted very thoroughly to remove the bollworms manually.

Angular leaf spot (Phaeoisariopsis griseola)

Symptoms consist of small dark brown spots with angular edges and are often numerous to give the foliage a checker-board appearance. The spots may increase in size, join together, and cause yellowing and necrosis of the affected leaves. This may lead to premature defoliation. When humid, the fungus produces a grey mould on the lower surface of the spots. Infected pods have brown blotches. The disease is favoured by high moisture and moderate temperatures (20-25°C). The disease is seed-borne.

Anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum)

Symptoms of anthracnose can appear on any plant part. Pale brown sunken spots may appear on the cotyledons of infected seedlings. Water may spread the disease to the hypocotyl, which if girdled, kills the seedling. Lesions on leaves are dark brown. They are restricted to the veins on lower leaf surface. On stems, lesions are elongated and sunken. On the pods, the fungus produces black, sunken lesions. These lesions penetrate deep into the pods and may cause shrivelling of the young pods. Infected seed become discoloured changing to yellow through brown to black. In damp weather, the centres of anthracnose lesions become covered with a pink spore mass. The disease is seed-borne.

Aphids (Aphis fabae) and (Aphis craccivora)

The black bean aphid (Aphis fabae) and the black legume aphid (Aphis craccivora) are black to dark brown brownish in colour and winged or wingless and vary in size from 1.5 to 3.0 mm. Aphids feed by sucking plant sap. Small aphid populations may be relatively harmless, but heavily infested plants usually have wrinkled leaves, stunted growth and deformed pods. Plants, in particular young plants, may dry out and die under heavy aphid attack. Heavy attack on older plants may cause crop loss by decreasing flower and pod production. Damage may also reduce seed viability.

In addition, plants may become contaminated by honeydew produced by aphids and sooty mould growing on honeydew. French beans contaminated with honeydew and / or sooty moulds are not marketable. Aphids are also vectors of diseases, including the bean common mosaic virus. The black bean aphid is a widely distributed pest of beans. The black legume aphid usually attacks beans grown at low altitudes.

Bean common mosaic virus

Symptoms of bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) are cupping and twisting of leaves with a light and dark green mosaic pattern. The dark green tissue is often bubbled and/or in bands next to the veins. Affected plants produce smaller, curled pods with a greasy appearance, and yields are reduced. The virus is seed borne. It can be transmitted by several aphid species.

Bean flies (Ophiomyia spp.)

Bean flies also called bean stem maggots are serious pests in Africa. The adult is a tiny (about 2mm long) fly, shiny black-bluish in colour. The female fly pierces the young leaves to lay eggs and sucks the exuding sap. This leaves yellow blotches on the leaves, which are the first signs of bean fly attack and may serve as early symptom useful for monitoring the presence of this pest in the field. Maggots mine their way from the leaves down to the base of the stem, where they complete their development.

Maggot feeding destroys the tissue causing the stem to swell and split and reducing formation of lateral roots. Attacked plants produce adventitious roots in compensation. Maggots (yellow in colour) and pupae (brown or black in colour) can often be seen through the stem splits. Young seedlings and plants under stress wilt and die when attacked by bean flies. Older or vigorous plants may tolerate bean fly attack, but their growth will be stunted and their yield reduced. Damage is more severe in plants growing under poor conditions such as infertile soils and drought.

Bean rust (Uromyces appendiculatus var. appendiculatus)

Rust spots (pustules) appear on all parts above the ground. They are most numerous on leaves, particularly on the underside. They are less abundant on stems and occur sparingly on pods. Initial symptoms are minute, slightly raised yellow pustules, which later become distinct circles, reddish brown in colour and surrounded by a yellow halo. The disease is spread long distance by wind. Plant to plant spread of the disease is by farm tools, insects or water splash. Severely infected leaves drop off.

The bean seed fly (Delia platura)

The bean seed fly, also known as seed corn maggot, resembles small houseflies. It is about 1cm long.

Female flies are attracted to recently disturbed open soil, where they lay eggs, especially where there are plant residues or when large amount of manure has been applied. The maggots bore into germinating bean seeds or the cotyledons (first seed leaves) of the young plant eating them. This causes patchy emergence of seedlings. If damaged plants emerge, they are stunted, weak and fail to develop into productive plants.

Pupation takes place in the soil, 2-4 cm under the soil surface.

Bugs

Several species of bugs feed on beans. The most common in East Africa are the spiny brown bug (Clavigralla tomentosicolis), Riptortus bugs (Riptortus dentipes), the green stink bug (Nezara viridula) and the tip wilter (Anoplocnemis curvipes).

Bugs suck on pods causing tiny lesions, and may cause shrivelling and rotting of the seeds, which lose viability. The whole pod may also shrivel. French bean pods showing signs of bug attack (pimples) are not marketable. Tip wilters sometimes suck the sap on shoots, causing them to wilt and turn necrotic and rot. The green stinkbug transmits a fungus to developing seeds, causing yeast spot, which is a widespread but a minor disease of beans in Africa.

Bugs are difficult to control since they usually feed on a wide range of crops and are very mobile.

Common blight (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli)

This disease is a constraint to bean production in Kenya. Crop losses of between 10 and 75% have been reported. The common blight produces similar symptoms on leaves, pods, stems and seeds. Small water-soaked spots are the first symptoms observed on leaves and appear within 4 to 10 days of infection. As the spots develop, the centre becomes dry and brown. The lesion is surrounded by a narrow band of bright yellow tissue. However, yellowed tissue is occasionally absent.

Cutworms

Cutworms attack young seedlings. First instars are 0.7-1 cm, later instars are 3.5-5cm long. The caterpillar emerges from the soil at night, encircles the plant with its body and cut through the stem of young plants just above ground level. They may also damage the plants underground. Cutworm damage causes plants to wilt and die. Cutworm damage is usually minor and does not normally warrant control. However, in severe outbreaks a young crop may be destroyed.

Flower or blister beetles (Mylabris oculata)

The adults of the flower beetles, also known as blister beetles, feed on bean flowers (petals and / or pollen) reducing pod set. The adults are medium to large sized beetles (2-5 cm in length), usually black and yellow or black and red in colour. The immature stages (larvae) do not feed on plants. They live in the soil and eat grasshopper eggs.

Foliage beetles (Ootheca spp.; Monolepta spp.)

In East Africa foliage beetles (Ootheca spp.; Monolepta spp.) are commonly found feeding on bean leaves. Foliage beetles chew small round holes in the leaves. They are about 4-7mm long. They may be a serious problem when present in large numbers or when attacking young plants. Heavy attacks may cause defoliation. Attack on young plants may reduce plant vigour, plant size and yield. The problem is more acute in fields with continuous growing of beans.

Ootheca beetles are normally not serious pest of French beans, but are an important pest of common beans in East Africa. The larvae (grubs) of foliage beetles live in the soil feeding on roots. Their feeding may cause stunted growth and premature ageing of the plants.

Grubs of weevils live in the soil feeding on roots or may bore into the stem of the bean plant causing swellings or galls, as is the case of the striped bean weevil. Plants attacked by grubs of this weevil show stunted growth and may die. The stem of the plant breaks easily during harvesting (see more below).

Fusarium root rot (Fusarium solani f. sp. phaseoli)

Seedlings infected with Fusarium root rot appear dwarfed. The primary leaves are often yellow, later turning necrotic and finally the seedlings wilt. Fusarium species infect bean roots when the soil is too wet, or too hot for good bean growth. The fungus survives in soil for long period.

Halo blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola)

The most characteristic halo blight symptoms occur on bean foliage. Initially, small water-soaked spots resembling pin pricks appear on the lower leaf surface. These spots turn brown in a few days, and the surrounding tissue gradually become yellow-green. This zone of yellowed tissue around the spot resembles a halo, hence the name of the disease. Pod lesions first appear as small water-soaked pin pricks on the pod surface. These lesions gradually enlarge to form dark sunken spots of various sizes. A whitish bacterial ooze appears on the spots when wet.
Halos do not develop around pod lesions. Pod lesions are especially important to the French bean industry because they make the bean pod unacceptable to fresh market and processors. On dry beans, pod lesions are of less importance because the beans are shelled before marketing. When infected seed is used, the primary leaves of seedlings show interveinal chlorosis, suggestive of mosaic virus infection.

Leafhoppers (Empoasca dolichi and E. lybica)

They are widely distributed in Africa. Leafhoppers are small (about 2.5 mm long), slender mobile insects and green in colour. They move sideways when disturbed. Numerous leafhoppers may be seen on the underside of leaves. Their feeding on beans causes down curled leaves with yellowish margins. Eventually the whole plant may turn yellowish brown and dry-up. In Africa, leafhopper damage is usually minor and does not warrant control.

Leafmining flies (Lyriomiza spp)

Leafminers are small flies, about 1.5 mm in length. The maggot makes long, slender, white mines (tunnels) in leaves.

Severely mined leaves may turn yellow and drop. Severely attacked seedlings are stunted and may eventually die. Control measures are necessary when attack is severe, especially on young plants.

Powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni)

A white powdery mould appears on the upper leaf surfaces. Severely diseased leaves turn yellow and die. Leaf petioles, stems and pods can also be affected.

Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica)

They cause stunting and yellowing of plants with a tendency to wilt in hot weather. If infested plants are pulled out from the soil, the roots can be seen to be distorted, swollen and bearing knots of various sizes. Infested roots under severe infestation decay.

These knots should not be confused with legume nodules, which are normally small and round, and are attached to the outside of the roots, whereas swellings of root-knot nematodes are within the body of the root. When active nodules are sliced, they are pinkish in colour.

Spider mites (Tetranychus spp.)

Spider mites feeding on bean plants may cause reduction in plant growth, flowering, number and length of pods, and number of seeds per pod. Damage is most severe when mites attack young plants. Mite damage may be particularly severe during the dry season.

Storage pests: Bruchids (Zabrotes subfasciatus, Acanthoscelides obtectus)

Bruchids such as the bean bruchid or dry bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus), and the Mexican bean weevil (Zabrotes subfasciatus) are storage pests, attacking dried beans in Africa. They are small beetles (3-5 mm) grey, brown to reddish-brown in colour. Females of the dry bean weevil lay eggs glued to the bean seeds, while females of the Mexican bean weevil lay eggs scattered between the bean seeds. Development takes place inside the bean and takes about one month before the adult emerges. The larvae feed on the seeds destroying them or reducing germination capacity. The adult emerges from the seeds leaving small round holes on the bean seeds. Heavy infestation can result in a large number of holed seeds, with adults moving across the stored beans. The dry bean weevil can attack pods in the field laying eggs on ripening pods. The Mexican bean weevil attacks only beans in storage.

Striped bean weevil (Alcidodes leucogrammus)

Several species of snout weevils are commonly found feeding on bean leaves. Adult weevils chew the edges of the leaves cutting circular discs. Grubs of weevils live in the soil feeding on roots or may bore into the stem of the bean plant causing swellings or galls, as is the case of the striped bean weevil.

The adult of the striped bean weevil is 10-15mm long, dark brown in colour with whitish to yellowish longitudinal stripes. The females lay eggs in the soil near bean plants. Emerging grubs bore and feed inside the stem, causing cankerous swelling or galls. Fully-grown grubs are white, about 10mm long, have no less and are C-shaped. Pupation occurs in an earthen cell attached to the plant. Plants attacked by grubs of this weevil show stunted growth, lodging, and eventually may die. The stem of the plant breaks easily during harvesting.
In Kenya, striped bean weevil only occurs occasionally, and to a minor extent and control measures are usually not required.

Beetles can be collected manually and destroyed. Plants damaged by the grubs can be removed and the grubs destroyed.

Flower thrips (Frankliniella spp. and Megalurotrhips sjostedti)

Feeding by flower thrips causes scars and blemishes on leaves and pods. Flower thrips can be found feeding on young plants. They are less than 2 mm long. As soon as the plants start flowering, however, most thrips would be found in the flower buds, flowers and on the young pods. Heavy thrips feeding causes flower abortion and flower malformation. French bean pods become scarred (having a rough silvery surface) and malformed and are not marketable.

Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes vaporariorum)

Whiteflies are important pests of beans. Both the larvae and the adults pierce and suck the sap from leaves, which may cause reduced plant growth, yellowing of leaves, and wilting of the plant when present in large numbers. They produce honeydew, which may lead to growth of sooty mould on leaves and pods. Heavy growth of sooty mould reduces photosynthesis affecting plant growth. French bean pods contaminated with sooty mould are unmarketable.
Control measures on beans are justified if large whitefly numbers attack the plants during the early stages of the crop. Whitefly infestations after the onset of flowering usually do not affect yield.

Adults are small (1-3 mm long), with two pairs of wings that are held roof-like over the body. They resemble very small moths.