BANANA (Musa sp.) PEST AND DISEASE IMAGE GALLERY (Hawaii)

Banana (Musa sp.) Pest and Disease Image Gallery

Online quick reference for Hawaii’s banana growers

Scot C. Nelson <snelson@hawaii.edu>, University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences (PEPS)

Over 200 digital photos of more than 30 pest and disease problems of bananas in Hawaii and the Pacific are provided here to help banana growers diagnose their problems. For most images, the resolution and size is set at 150 DPI and (500 x 375) pixels, respectively, to provide sufficient clarity and size to enable the recognition of the more subtle disease characteristics with confidence when printed. Users of this site are encouraged to request or submit high-resolution images of banana problems by email. All images here are copyright-free.

How to use this site: Pests and banana health problems are listed in brown font below in alphabetical order, with different symptoms or other important aspects listed below each entry. Browse and click on an image associated with a particular problem. View, save or print the image. Click on your browser’s “back arrow” to return to this page. If you would like more information, please contact the University of Hawaii at Manoa Cooperative Extension Service.

1) Free banana pest & disease publications and links from the University of Hawaii:

Species Profile (Musa sp.). [PDF] (Permanent Agriculture Resources, August 2006, by S. C. Nelson, R. Ploetz and A. Kepler)
Banana and Plantain – an Overview With an Emphasis on Pacific Island Cultivars [PDF] (Permanent Agriculture Resources, Jan. 2007, R. C. Ploetz, A. K. Kepler, J. Daniells and S. C. Nelson)
Banana Bunchy Top Virus. [PDF] (University of Hawaii extension publication, 1997, by S. Ferreira, E. Trujillo and D. Ogata)
Banana Rust Thrips Damage to Banana and Ornamentals in Hawaii. [PDF] (University of Hawaii, extension publication, 2002, by A. Hara, R. Mau, R. Heu, C. Jacobsen and R. Niino-DuPonte)
Banana Bunchy Top Brochure: Symptoms and Management. [PDF] (University of Hawaii, extension publication, 2005, by the Banana Action Group)
Banana Bunchy Top in Hawaii: Online Video. (University of Hawaii, extension product, Requires one of three media payers, 14.5 minutes in duration, full color, by S. C. Nelson and L. Richardson)
Banana Bunchy Top Website. (University of Hawaii, extension product, by. S. C. Nelson).
Banana Ripening and Bunch Management. [PDF, from a Powerpoint slide show, 8.8 MB], 79 slides, University of Hawaii extension product, 2004, by S. C. Nelson, not copyrighted)
Banana Bunchy Top Poster (PowerPoint, 11.5 mb)
Banana Pest Management Strategic Plan (Hawaii) [PDF]
Cost of banana production in Hawaii (Excel spreadsheet, by Kent Fleming)
Banana cultivar synonyms in Hawaii (Drs. Angela Kay Kepler and Frank Rust, 2007) [PDF, 150 KB]

2) The Pest & Disease Image Gallery

Abrasion injury: | text |

- Bruised, abraded, scarred banana fingers from rubbing against each other 1 |

- Alligator skin: light abrasions on fruit peel caused by leaves or bracts 1 2 |

(Giant) African snail (Achatina fulica):

- Snails feeding on banana pseudostems and petioles 1 2 3 | on banana leaves and damage (holes) caused 1 2 |

Ant damage (long-legged ant, Anoplolepsis longipes): | text | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

- Formic acid damage to young banana bunches and fingers 1 2 3 4 5 |

- Ants nesting under and within old banana leaf sheaths and tending aphid colonies 1 2 |

Anthracnose (fungal, Colletotrichum musae): | text |

- Anthracnose lesions on banana fruits 1 2 |

- Anthracnose spots on fruits of dwarf Brazilian variety 1 |

- On cooking banana fruits 1 |

Bacterial soft rot (bacterium, Erwinia sp.): | text |

- Rot of basal pseudostem 1 2 |

- Internal pseudostem necrosis 1 2 |

Banana aphid (insect, Pentalonia nigronervosa): | text |

- Apterous (wingless) adult (close-up) 1 2 |

- Alate (winged) adult (close-up) 1 2 |

- Colonies of P. nigronervosa on furled cigar leaf 1 2 |

- Colony of P. nigronervosa on unfurled banana leaves 1 |

- Colonies of P. nigronervosa on or under leaf sheaths or on pseudostem 1 2 3 |

- P. nigronervosa on banana petioles 1 |

Black leaf streak (fungal, Mycosphaerella fijiensis):

- Round, immature-type, non-streak lesion found on immature banana plants 1 2 3 4 |

- Leaf streaks near banana midrib indicate lack of fungicide in the tissue due to its laminar transport 1 2 |

- Black leaf streak and blight, typical symptoms in wet environment 1 2 3 4 5 |

Banana skipper (insect, Erionota thrax): | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

- Leaf damage (curling, tearing) 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

- Eggs on leaf 1 |

- Young caterpillar 1 |

- Full-grown caterpillar with frass 1 2 3 |

- Adult at University of Hawaii Online Insect Museum |

- Adult moth 1 |

Boron deficiency: | text |

- Deformed banana foliage 1 2 |

- Boron + calcium deficiency 1 2 3 4 5 |

Bunchy top (viral, Banana Bunchy Top Virus, BBTV): | Bunchy top website (University of Hawaii) | American Samoa | poster [GIF] |

- Green J-hooks (and “Morse code”) in leaf venation 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

- “Morse code” in leaf venation 1 2 3 |

- Leaf cupping 1 2 3 (dwarf Brazilian variety) |

- Bunchy top symptom on young banana plants 1 2 3 4 5 |

- Bunchy top symptom on mature plants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |

- Yellow and tattered lead margins 1 2 3 |

- Mottled petioles and leaf sheaths 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

- Mottled and streaked pseudostem of young plant 1 |

- Mottled banana inflorescence 1 |

- Healthy banana inflorescence (without BBTV-mottling) 1 |

- Deformed, stunted bunch 1 |

- Bunchy top symptoms on Hawaiian apple banana (dwarf Brazilian, Santa Catarina Prata) 1 2 3 |

- Comparison of healthy and diseased banana plants in the same photograph 1 |

- Bulldozed banana field due to bunchy top outbreak (Hawaii) 1 |

Burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis): | text |

- Corm necrosis 1 |

- Root necrosis 1 |

- Toppling and pseudostem blackhead 1 |

Calcium deficiency: | text |

- Early foliar symptoms (yellow stripes parallel to leaf midrib 1 2 |

- Chlorotic (white) and/or necrotic heart leaf 1 2 3 |

- Early foliar symptoms of Calcium-Boron deficiency (crinkled leaves) 1 |

- Sagging cigar leaf and striped leaves 1 |

Caterpillar (unidentified):

- Feeding injury to young banana leaf 1 |

Cigar end rot (fungal, Thielaviopsis sp., Verticillium sp.): | text |

- On banana fingers 1 2 3 |

Coconut mealybug (Nipaecoccus nipae): | text |

- On banana leaves and petioles 1 2 3 |

- Sooty mold on banana leaf associated with mealybugs 1 |

- Yellow form 1 |

Coconut scale (insect, genus, species): | text |

- Scale colony on banana leaf 3 |

- Adults and crawlers 1 2 3 |

Cordana leaf spot (fungal, Cordana musae): | text |

- Leaf spots on banana 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

Crown rot (fungal, Fusarium sp.): | text |

- Rot of banana bunch 1 |

- Incipient symptoms on banana bunches at farmer’s market 1 |

Cucumber mosaic (viral, Cucumber Mosaic Virus): | text |

- Mosaic symptoms on banana leaves 1 2 |

- Mosaic on banana inflorescence 1 |

- Mosaic on alternate weed host, Commelina diffusa (honohono grass) 1 2 and 3 (not infected) |

Diamond spot/brown spot (fungal, Cercospora hayi): | text |

- On fruits of dwarf Brazilian variety 1 2 3 4 |

Fire damage (brush fire, Poamoho, Oahu 2007):

- Banana plants damaged by brush fire 1 2 3 |

Fused Fingers (physiological problem; off-grade fruit):

- On fruits of dwarf Brazilian variety 1 2 3 |

Flower thrips (under construction)

Fusarium wilt/Panama disease (fungal, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense): | text |

- Wilting plants 1 2 |

- Vascular necrosis 1 2 3 4 |

- Healthy pseudostem, transverse section 1 |

- Several symptoms on a Hawaiian banana varieties including vascular necrosis and wilting | 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

Glyphosate injury (herbicide phytotoxicity): | text |

- Non-fatal damage to banana foliage, shoestring symptom, leaf deformity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |

- Banana bunch thrown at odd angle, leaf deformity 1 |

- Post-injection symptoms on banana 1 2 |

Gramoxone injury (herbicide, phytotoxicity): | text |

- Leaf spots on banana 1 2 |

Lighting injury:

- Collapsed and broken banana pseudostem struck by lightning 1 2 3 4 |

- Wilting, necrotic crown 1 2 |

- Fallen, burned plant 1 |

Marasmiellus rot (fungal, Marasmiellus inoderma): | text |

- Mycelium and mycelial fans on banana pseudostem under leaf sheaths 1 2 3 |

- Internal pseudostem necrosis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |

- Lumpy, malformed fruit 1 2 3 |

- Petiole necrosis, mycelium, and choke throat 1 2 3 |

- Dying banana plant 1 2 |

- Fruiting bodies of Marasmiellus inoderma on banana pseudostems 1 2 3 4 5 |

Maturity bronzing (physiological, unknown): | text |

- Bronze stain on banana fruit 1 |

Senescence spots (physiological, over-ripe): | text |

- Spots on over-ripe fruits 1 2 3 |

“Snappers” (plant toppling in mid-pseudostem, physiological, calcium deficiency?): | text |

- Toppled banana plant 1 |

Spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus): | text |

- Eggs in spiral configuration on “Chinese” banana 1 2 |

- Waxy flocculent material on “Chinese” banana 1 2 |

Rat damage (various species): | text |

- Rate feeding injury to banana fruits 1 2 3 4 5 |

- Rat clawing damage 1 |

- Rat’s nest in banana bunch 1 |

- The Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) 1 |

Rose beetle (insect, Adoretus sinicus, Chinese rose beetle): | text |

- Feeding damage to banana leaves (windowing) 1 2 3 4 5 6

- Adult beetles 1 |

Rust thrips (insect, Chaetanaphothrips signipennis): | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

- Discoloration of and damage to banana fruits 1 2 3 4

Scab moth (insect, Nacoleia octasema): | text Australia [PDF] and CSIRO html |

- Feeding damage to banana fruits in American Samoa 1 2 3 4 5 6

Sugarcane bud moth (insect, Decadarchis flavistriata): | text |

- Caterpillar feeding injury to banana fruits 1 2 |

- More fruit damage 1 2 |

Weeds: | text |

- Banana poka 1 |

Weevils (insect, several species, Cosmopolites sordidus in Hawaii): | text at Crop Knowledge Master |

- Cosmopolites sordidus adult weevils 1 2 3 | compare New Guinea sugarcane weevil (Rhabdoscelus obsucurus (Boisduval)) with C. sordidus 1 |

- Cosmopolites sordidus larvae 1 2 |

- Cosmopolites sordidus damage to banana corms 1 2 3 4 5 and fungal colonization 1 |

- Toppling 1 |

- Holes in pseudostem 1 in Okinawa (probably not C. sordidus) |

- Adult on pseudostem 1 in Okinawa (probably not C. sordidus) |

- Weevil-infested field in Okinawa 1 (probably not C. sordidus)

Photo credits: Scot Nelson, Angela Kay Kepler, Frank Rust, Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Wayne Nishijima, Randy Ploetz, Russell Messing, Cerruti Hooks, Koon-hui Wang

Site design: Scot Nelson (2006)

Last site update: 4.Dec.2007

Notes: Photos are copyright-free for educational use. This site is under construction.