Pods of a garden pea, Pisum sativum, showing damage due to the presence of a larva of the pea moth, Cydia nigricana ( Laspeyresia nigricana ). The pea

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Pods of a garden pea, Pisum sativum, showing damage due to the presence of a larva of the pea moth, Cydia nigricana ( Laspeyresia nigricana ). The pea moth is an inconspicuous small moth that emerges from a pupa within the soil in early Summer ( June in N. Europe ). It lays eggs on the surface of pea plants; the larvae eat into the developing pods and feed on the peas within. The larva leaves the pod as it matures and dries, descends to the ground and overwinters as a pupa. The picture, taken in early July, shows pods from peas grown in the UK. The pea in the centre of the picture is damaged by a pea moth larva. The moth has one generation per year, so the damage it causes can be avoided by timing the sowing of the crop so that a newly hatched larva either encounters no pods ( from late sowing ) or pods that are already nearly mature ( from an early sowing ).

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Size: 3413px × 5120px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: cydia, damage, insect, larva, laspeyresia, moth, nigricana, pea, pisum, pod, sativum