Definition of bean fly

: a small dark fly (Agromyza phaseoli) having larvae that are leaf miners
especially in the leaves of beans and are a serious pest of cultivated crops
in Australia and adjacent regions

Bean fly (Ophiomyia phaseoli) is a stem damaging insect, capable of causing premature
plant death, especially in seedlings.
Hosts
Bean fly attacks most of the leguminous crops, like common bean, cowpea, French beans,
among others.

Life Cycle
Female flies lay their eggs near the leaf stalks of the tender/ young leaves. These eggs
hatch into maggots. There are three stages over about 10 days, and then the maggots
pupate. This occurs at the stem/root junction or in older plants at the junction of leaf blade
and leaf stalk. Pupation lasts about 10-12 days depending on temperature.

Identification
Adults are small, about 3mm long and shiny black-bluish in colour, with clear wings, about
5mm wide.

Eggs are tiny, white and oval

The larvae or maggots are cream with dark mouthparts and are about 3mm in length.

Pupae are small, brown and cylindrical with rounded ends.

Factors Favoring Bean Fly

 Presence of previously infested crop debris
 Lack of crop rotation
 Poor sanitation of previous legume and weed debris
 Use of contaminated seed
 Planting susceptible varieties
Feeding & Damage
Both the adults and the larvae cause damage.
Crops are at greatest risk for three to four weeks from emergence, but later crops are
sometimes attacked.

Larvae feeding soon after hatching produce numerous larval mines which are better seen
on the underside of the leaves just under the epidermis, and appear as silvery, curved
stripes. On the upper side of the leaf only a few tunnels are visible. Later, both egg holes
and larval mines turn dark brown and are clearly visible.

In cases of severe attack, infested leaves become blotchy and later hang down. These
leaves may dry out and may even be shed.

Also Read Cut Worms

When mature plants become infested, insect damage is confined to the leaf petioles, which
become swollen and at times the leaves may wilt.

The developing larvae in second and third instar mine downward into the cortex just
underneath the epidermis. The third instar continues to feed downwards into the tap root
and returns to pupate still inside the stem, close to the soil surface and the feeding tunnels
are clearly visible on the stems.

If the larvae population is high, feeding leads to destruction of the cortex tissue around the
root-shoot junction. This initially leads to yellowing of the leaves, stunting of plant growth
and even plant death.

If the damage is less severe, the root-shoot junction area appears swollen and in some
cases the host plant produces adventitious roots above this swollen area on the stem.

The adults make holes in the young leaves as they feed and lay eggs. 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 the pest in the field.

Damage is more severe in plants growing under poor conditions such as infertile soils and
drought.