Legumes have evolved effective defences against many pests by accumulating high levels of poisonous or indigestible compounds, pubescence and vigorous growth. These defences are greatly reduced in many cultivars of cowpea and common bean, which are susceptible to a succession of pest complexes. Stem pests and defoliators may kill seedlings but well‐established plants tolerate heavy insect damage to leaves, flowers and green pods before pod or grain yields are reduced; virus vectors and root‐knot nematode may be of greater importance. Generally, pod‐borers, pod‐sucking bugs and seed beetles are the main key pests. Control programmes are based on post‐flowering treatments with broad spectrum insecticides. Battery‐powered, controlled‐droplet application machines are ousting knapsack sprayers in small‐scale farming and competing with tractors and aircraft in larger units; subsistence cropping is still predominant and most legume crops remain unsprayed. Consequently, current emphasis is placed on developing cultivars with high yield potential and multiple pest and disease resistance. Insect infestations are lower in most other major legume crops largely due to pubescence (e.g. soybean, blackgram, greengram), fruiting in the dry season (e.g. pigeonpea, chickpea) or geocarpy (e.g. groundnut). Future entomological research will presumably concentrate on assessing the status of pests on resistant cultivars and introducing integrated control methods for the key pests.