Grasshoppers Injurious to Bananas and Plantains: -

Grasshoppers are considered as minor pests of bananas and plantains in India. The symptoms of damage caused by grasshoppers on bananas are variable and sometimes difficult to distinguish from those caused by lepidopteran pests, depending on the species involved. Based on our extensive surveys, here we report three species of bananas, namely Atractomorpha crenulata (Fabricius), Gesonula punctifrons (Stål) and Neorthacris spp. as common but minor pests of banana in Tamil Nadu, south India. Brief diagnostic notes and symptoms of damage caused by these grasshoppers and spotted coffee grasshopper, Aularches miliaris (Linnaeus), an occasional pest of banana, are given with illustrations.