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The Soybean
Leafminer, Odontota horni, is a minor pest of soybean. The adult
soybean leafminer is approximately 6 mm in length and bright red with a narrow
black stripe extending down the back between the wing covers. The antennae,
head, and legs also are black. The larvae mine the leaves, creating a pocket, or
blister-like injury, between the upper and lower leaf surfaces. The adults
overwinter in protected areas, probably using the same habitat as bean leaf
beetles. Soybean leafminer is thought to have one generation per year. Soybean
leafminers are not known to cause economic damage to soybean. They are most
commonly found along field margins. The adult beetles scrape and chew leaf
tissue, causing a skeletonizing-type of defoliation. Soybeans should grow out of
any feeding injury caused by the adult beetles and control with insecticides
solely for this insect is probably not justified. However, the beetles can
transmit bean pod mottle virus
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