Pea Pest Identification

Question

I was in my garden today and noticed my pea plants are being eaten by something. Could someone help me identify what's happening and how I could stop it? The pea plants are about 1-3 in tall and I didn't notice any issues 5 days ago. I'm not sure if I need to include this, but I live in the northwest side of Ohio.

Thanks in advance for any advice]1

Edit: This morning I went to see if I could locate any insects and saw a lot of this guy around the edges of the eaten leafs. Could this insect be eating my leafs and than causing Pea enation mosaic virus creating the white curls? If so, does anyone know what it is?

Answer 1

It's pea leaf miner, a common pest on peas. Quite often, it's only a problem on the young leaves - it is quite difficult to treat because the little miner is between the membranes of the leaves. As they grow, they move round eating the leaf tissue on the inside,and when they are big enough (not long) they leave. All leaves on your plants seem to be affected though, but as this is going to be an edible crop, using heavy duty pesticides is not a great idea. Neem oil spray might do something, otherwise, see what's available in your area in terms of insecticidal sprays that are suitable for vegetable crops and treat for leaf miner.

Vegetable growers often manage this problem by using row covers to prevent the miners getting to leaves in the first place. Some information on leaf miners generally (including on vegetables) here https://www.bhg.com/gardening/pests/insects-diseases-weeds/stop-leafminers/