Which pest can cause shrunken and deformed beans by feeding inside the pod?

Which pest can cause shrunken and deformed beans by feeding inside the pod?

• A. Soybean podworms
• B. Soybean aphids
• C. Bean leaf beetles
• D. Stink bugs

Answer: (D)

When seeds inside developing pods are fed on by insects, the damage shows up as seeds that are shriveled and deformed. The pest that most reliably causes this pattern is stink bugs. They insert their piercing-sucking mouthparts into the seeds inside the pod while the seeds are still developing, and the feeding disrupts seed development, leading to tiny, shriveled, misshapen beans. This inside-pod feeding creates the distinctive deformities you’d notice in the beans themselves, not just outside pod damage. Aphids mainly suck sap from the plant and tend to cause leaf symptoms and honeydew rather than causing deformed seeds inside pods. Bean leaf beetles primarily damage pods by feeding on the surface and creating scarring or holes, not the internal seed deformities associated with stink bugs. Podworms chew into the pods and damage seeds, but the classic inside-pod seed deformity is most closely associated with stink bug feeding.

When seeds inside developing pods are fed on by insects, the damage shows up as seeds that are shriveled and deformed. The pest that most reliably causes this pattern is stink bugs. They insert their piercing-sucking mouthparts into the seeds inside the pod while the seeds are still developing, and the feeding disrupts seed development, leading to tiny, shriveled, misshapen beans. This inside-pod feeding creates the distinctive deformities you’d notice in the beans themselves, not just outside pod damage.

Aphids mainly suck sap from the plant and tend to cause leaf symptoms and honeydew rather than causing deformed seeds inside pods. Bean leaf beetles primarily damage pods by feeding on the surface and creating scarring or holes, not the internal seed deformities associated with stink bugs. Podworms chew into the pods and damage seeds, but the classic inside-pod seed deformity is most closely associated with stink bug feeding.