Banana Weevils

Weevils

A black insect with clearly pronounced snout and hard fore wings. It lays eggs on the pseudostem area near the collar and eggs hatch into larvae which feed on the plant, tunnel into the corm causing damage.

Picture: Image of a Weevil (Photo credit: G.McCormack)

Symptoms

• Pseudostem breaks at the base
• Stunted growth,
• Reduced or death of suckers
• Wilting
• Yellowing leaves

Treatment:

• Use resistant plants
• Remove old corms, split them to dry to prevent breeding.
• Chop the old corms to prevent breeding ground.
• Trapping: Two types of traps, split pseudostem and disc-on-stump traps. Traps are made using 10 - 15 cm long pieces of banana stem, split in the centre and then laid upside down next to the infected plant. After 2-3 days, the traps will have attracted the weevils, then collect and kill them.

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