Chickpea leafminer

Caused by: Liriomyza cicerina
Problem Category: Insect
Symptoms: Leaves may have a stippled appearance from females puncturing leaf with ovipositor to feed on exudate; female lays eggs under leaf surface and newly hatched larvae damage the leaf by feeding on the inner tissues; feeding damage from larvae causes the development of winding white trails of the leaf surface; if feeding damage is extensive, the entire leaf may dry out and drop from the plant; damage to young seedlings may result in the death of the plant; crop yield may be reduced
Comments: Chickpea leafminers can cause heavy losses in North Africa, West Asia and Northern Europe
Management: Cultural control methods include planting chickpeas in early winter instead of Spring when the populations of the Insect are at less damaging levels; crop debris should be plowed deeply into the soil to destroy overwintering pupae; chickpea cultivars with smaller leaf sizes are less attractive to leafminers.
Control: Spary the chiili garlic extract or 5% Neem seed kernal extract to control leaf miner damage