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Трихограма за ДОМАТ
1 × 1,63€
Tomato leafminer
Tuta absoluta
Order Lepidoptera, Family Gelechiidae
Host plants
The tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) is an extremely destructive pest of tomatoes, also attacking eggplant, beans, potatoes, peppers, ornamental species from the Solanaceae family, black nightshade, jimsonweed, and others.
Life cycle
The tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) is an extremely destructive pest of tomatoes, also attacking eggplant, beans, potatoes, peppers, ornamental species from the Solanaceae family, black nightshade, jimsonweed, and others.
Egg laying
Females lay their eggs individually, and more rarely in groups, mainly on the leaves. The larvae complete their development in 12 to 15 days. Some descend on a silk thread and pupate in the soil at a depth of 1–3 cm, while others pupate in silken cocoons on the leaf surface or within the mines. The pupal stage lasts 6–8 days at a temperature of 25°C.
Larva
At hatching, the larva is whitish. As it grows, its coloration changes to pale green to yellow-green. In the final instar, the dorsal side has a pinkish tint, sometimes appearing as longitudinal and transverse stripes. When feeding on black nightshade, the spot is much larger and black. It reaches a length of 7–9 mm.
The pupa is green when first formed and later turns brown, reaching a length of 4–6 mm.
Damage
The newly hatched larvae crawl over the plants and penetrate the plant tissues, where they feed and develop, forming mines and galleries. The mines are short and wide, with excrement at one end. In cases of heavy infestation, the larvae completely destroy the parenchyma, leaving only the leaf epidermis intact. When a damaged leaf is examined against the light, the mine formed between the two epidermal layers appears fully transparent, and the larva can be seen inside. Galleries in the stems cause deformities and slow down plant growth, while damaged flowers drop off.
Damage to the apical buds slows down or completely stops plant growth.
Infested developing fruits become deformed, while mature fruits rot due to the development of secondary pathogens.
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