Divisi
Sesame capsule borer
Antigastra catalaunalis · Insect
Photo: Ravi Vaidyanathan · CC BY 3.0
The sesame capsule borer (also called the sesame leaf webber) is the main insect pest of sesame. Its small green caterpillar spins the top leaves and growing tips together with silk and feeds inside, then bores into the flowers and green capsules to eat the developing seed. Because sesame flowers and sets capsules over many weeks, overlapping generations keep attacking right through the flowering and pod-filling period, hurting both how much seed you harvest and its quality.
Ben Sale from UK · CC BY 2.0 
Ben Sale from UK · CC BY 2.0
Why it matters
The sesame capsule borer is the number-one insect pest of sesame, and a bad attack can cost you up to half your seed (50%) — the caterpillar eats the very parts you sell: the flowers and the seeds inside the capsules. It is hard to beat once it takes hold, because the caterpillars hide inside webbed shoot tips, flowers and capsules where sprays cannot reach them, and because sesame keeps flowering for weeks, fresh generations keep coming. That is why catching it early — while the caterpillars are still small and out in the open on the tips — matters so much.
When to act
webbed shoot tips or bored flowers/capsules on scouting; larvae found in growing tips
This guidance is general, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. Thresholds and timing shift with your crop, your variety and the season.
In much of the region a spray is simply called mushonga — medicine. But a chemical group you cannot name is one you cannot rotate, and a product you did not write down has no pre-harvest interval you can observe. Mushonga, and other farming words →
The full sesame capsule borer field guide
- Identify it
- Scout for it
- Control it
14 field-guide sections in the app
The full guide to sesame capsule borer — every symptom to check, how and when to walk your field looking for it, and the controls that actually work, ranked. Built into your crop plan, so you are told to look before it costs you a harvest.
Crops it affects
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify sesame capsule borer?
The first sign — webbed, dying tips: look at the top of the plant. The youngest leaves and the growing tip get spun together with fine silk webbing, and the shoot tip droops, browns and dies. Tease the webbing apart and you'll see crumbly droppings (frass) and often the caterpillar itself inside.
When should I take action against sesame capsule borer?
webbed shoot tips or bored flowers/capsules on scouting; larvae found in growing tips
How do I control sesame capsule borer?
Prevent it first (cultural): sow early and all at once — ideally at the same time as your neighbours — so the crop passes its tender flowering-and-podding stage before borer numbers build up; avoid staggered or late plantings that keep feeding the pest. Where one is available, grow a tolerant variety.
Which crops does sesame capsule borer affect?
Among the crops covered here: Sesame.
Catch it before it costs you a harvest
Divisi builds scouting into your crop plan — it tells you when to walk your field, what to look for at that stage, and what to do when you find it. Free for farmers, works offline.
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