Adults’ flies are barely 6mm long and resemble ordinary home flies.
Larvae are white and lack both a head and legs. They are about 8mm long.
The mature maggot is white, about 1/4 inch long, and lacks a visible head.
The pupa is 5/l6 inches in length, elliptical, and reddish-brown.
Host plants:
They feed beans, pea, corn seeds, cabbage, maize, and onion.
Territory:
Bean seed maggots are found all over the world, but they are a major pest in North and South America and Europe, and they are also abundant in Japan, India, Australia, northern Africa, and New Zealand.
Damages caused by bean seed maggot:
Bean seed maggots and Seedcorn maggots are serious pests of bean crops throughout the state. These maggots wreak havoc on the seeds and seedlings of beans, maize, peas, and other vegetable crops. Early planted beans suffer significant harm and stand loss.
Life History and habits:
The bean seed maggot has four life stages: egg, larva (maggot), pupa, and adult. It spends the winter as a pupa in the dirt near ancient roots where it formed. Adults appear in the spring when early beans are sown. Females lay eggs in damp soil containing decaying plant material, which the young maggots feed on, and the eggs hatch in less than a week. Maggots are drawn to budding seeds when they are around. In two to three weeks, maggots complete full size (pupae stage). Flies emerge two to three weeks later to begin another generation; each year, there are three to four generations.
