Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): An Invasive Insect Pest Threatening the World Tomato Production

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a very important vegetable crop of the world. However, there is a huge loss in tomato production due to pest and disease incidence. Tomato leaf miner is a devastating pest of tomato and other Solanaceous crops in many vegetable crop growing areas around the world and it also attacks non-solanaceous crops. The larva is the most devastating stage of tomato leaf miner. After egg hatching, the larvae feed on tomato fruits, leaves, flower buds, and young shoots and create mines and galleries. Larval feeding may reduce tomato production by 80-100 % in an open field as well as in a plastic house if no control measures are carried out. Chemical control has been found ineffective due to a wide host range and has developed resistance to dozens of pesticides. Hence, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices involving mass trapping of the pest using pheromone trap, biological control by a predator, parasitoid, entomopathogenic microbes, including cultural practices should be implemented for the effective control of this pest.

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Heterosis and combining ability of dual-purpose tomato hybrids developed to meet family farmers' needs in Brazil and Mozambique

Horticultura Brasileira ◽

10.1590/s0102-053620150000200010 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 339-344 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

António JP Graça ◽

Antonio T Amaral Júnior ◽

Rosana Rodrigues ◽

Leandro SA Gonçalves ◽

Cláudia P Sudré ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Combining Ability ◽

Agronomic Traits ◽

Rio Grande ◽

Total Content ◽

Soluble Solids ◽

Dual Purpose ◽

Tomato Production ◽

Production Chain ◽

Family Farmers ◽

The World

Brazil is the world eighth largest tomato producer and, within the country, the tomato production chain is segmented according to fruit destination: fresh consumption and processing (industrial supply). In contrast, Mozambique does not have a differentiated chain and cultivars are expected to serve both purposes. As there are no tomato breeding programs in Mozambique, cultivars used in the country come from other regions of the world, including Brazil. This paper describes the development and assessment of tomato hybrids with dual-purpose: fresh use and processing. Five tomato genotypes (B13LD, Castone, Massag-72, "Viradoro", and "Rio Grande") were crossed in complete diallel design without reciprocal, and the general and specific combining ability (GCA and SCA) and heterosis were estimated to ten agronomic and fruit quality traits. The offspring of cross B13LD x "Rio Grande" showed potential for use in dual purpose, considering SCA and heterosis estimates for fruit firmness (FF), total content of soluble solids (TSS), number of fruits per plant (NFP) and yield (YLD). Combinations B13LD x Castone, Massag-72 x "Viradoro", and Massag-72 x "Rio Grande", although having no strength to increase YLD, had positive heterosis for FF, TSS, and NFP. The development of high-yielding genotypes, with agronomic traits that meet the expectations of both markets are a breakthrough for Mozambican tomato producers and may also be very convenient to family farmers in Brazil. In both countries, these dual-purpose cultivars represent the freedom of choice to farmers, who will be then in position to allocate their production to the most profitable market segment.

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Microsatellite markers for Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Laemophloeidae) and other Cryptolestes species

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485315000899 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 106 (2) ◽

pp. 154-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Y. Wu ◽

F. Li ◽

Z. Li ◽

V. Stejskal ◽

Z. Kučerová ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genomic Library ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Reproductive Capacity ◽

Broad Host Range ◽

Cryptolestes Ferrugineus ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

The World ◽

And Migration ◽

Species Markers

AbstractCryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens, 1831) is an important insect pest of stored products. Due to its broad host range, short life cycle, and high reproductive capacity, this species has rapidly colonized temperate and tropical regions around the world. In this study, we isolated 18 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci from an enriched genomic library based on a biotin/streptavidin capture protocol. These loci will be useful tool to better understand the genetic structure and migration patterns of C. ferrugineus throughout the world. The genetic parameters were estimated based on 80 individual C. ferrugineus from two natural populations. The results revealed that 18 loci were different polymorphic levels. The numbers of alleles ranged from 3 to 12, and eleven loci demonstrated polymorphic information contents greater than 0.5. The observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosities ranged from 0.051 to 0.883 and 0.173 to 0.815, respectively. Five locus/population combinations significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. We also demonstrated the potential utility of the C. ferrugineus microsatellites as population and species markers for four additional Cryptolestes species.

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Pathogenicity of some commercial formulations of entomopathogenic fungi on the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control ◽

10.1186/s41938-019-0184-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Assinapol Ndereyimana ◽

Samuel Nyalala ◽

Patrick Murerwa ◽

Svetlana Gaidashova

Keyword(s):

Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽

Larval Mortality ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Negative Control ◽

Tomato Leaf ◽

Tuta Absoluta ◽

Leaf Miner ◽

Tomato Production ◽

Tomato Field ◽

Tomato Leaf Miner

AbstractThe tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is a major threat to tomato production in Rwanda. Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate some commercial entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) formulations on T. absoluta larvae. The larvae, inside the leaf galleries, were obtained from the established tomato field. Commercial EPF: Metatech® WP [Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorok, Strain FCM Ar 23B3], Beauvitech® WP [Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill., Strain J25], and Botanigard ES [B. bassiana (Bals.), Strain GHA] were tested in Petri dishes against T. absoluta larvae at a concentration of 108 spores/ml. A synthetic insecticide, imidacloprid was included for comparison as a positive control, while water was used as a negative control. All the tested commercial EPF formulations were pathogenic to T. absoluta larvae in all conducted bioassays. Mortality rates increased with an increase in time (days). However, the insignificant difference was observed in the mortality of T. absoluta larvae treated with the commercial EPF during the first 3 days in all bioassays. Highly significant differences (p < 0.01) in pathogenicity among treatments were observed from the 4th to 6th days after inoculation. Metatech® WP and Beauvitech® WP recorded the highest mortality rates (82.8 and 60.8%) with the LT50 values of 3.9 and 5.2 days, respectively, while imidacloprid caused the least larval mortality. Since the EPF demonstrated high virulence level against the target pest, the efficacy of Metatech® WP and Beauvitech® WP should be advanced to field evaluation to determine their potential as alternatives to the synthetic insecticides.

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The sudden emergence of pathogenicity in insect–fungus symbioses threatens naive forest ecosystems

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2011.1130 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 278 (1720) ◽

pp. 2866-2873 ◽

Cited By ~ 143

Author(s):

Jiri Hulcr ◽

Robert R. Dunn

Keyword(s):

Tree Mortality ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Current Understanding ◽

Large Majority ◽

Invasive Insect ◽

Significant Damage ◽

The World ◽

Bark And Ambrosia Beetles ◽

Diverse Community ◽

Wood Boring

Invasive symbioses between wood-boring insects and fungi are emerging as a new and currently uncontrollable threat to forest ecosystems, as well as fruit and timber industries throughout the world. The bark and ambrosia beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) constitute the large majority of these pests, and are accompanied by a diverse community of fungal symbionts. Increasingly, some invasive symbioses are shifting from non-pathogenic saprotrophy in native ranges to a prolific tree-killing in invaded ranges, and are causing significant damage. In this paper, we review the current understanding of invasive insect–fungus symbioses. We then ask why some symbioses that evolved as non-pathogenic saprotrophs, turn into major tree-killers in non-native regions. We argue that a purely pathology-centred view of the guild is not sufficient for explaining the lethal encounters between exotic symbionts and naive trees. Instead, we propose several testable hypotheses that, if correct, lead to the conclusion that the sudden emergence of pathogenicity is a new evolutionary phenomenon with global biogeographical dynamics. To date, evidence suggests that virulence of the symbioses in invaded ranges is often triggered when several factors coincide: (i) invasion into territories with naive trees, (ii) the ability of the fungus to either overcome resistance of the naive host or trigger a suicidal over-reaction, and (iii) an ‘olfactory mismatch’ in the insect whereby a subset of live trees is perceived as dead and suitable for colonization. We suggest that individual cases of tree mortality caused by invasive insect–fungus symbionts should no longer be studied separately, but in a global, biogeographically and phylogenetically explicit comparative framework.

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Tomato Production Influenced by Variety, Irrigation and Organic Fertilization

Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca Horticulture ◽

10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:2018.0037 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 76 (1) ◽

pp. 72

Author(s):

Carmen INCULET ◽

Madalina DACHI ◽

Ana GAFINCU ◽

Mirabela GACHE ◽

Gabriel Ciprian TELIBAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Organic Fertilizer ◽

Water Quantity ◽

Economic Sustainability ◽

Organic Fertilization ◽

Tomato Production ◽

Solanum Lycopersicum L ◽

The World ◽

Tomato Cultivars ◽

Control Version

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most cultivated crops in the world, offering many opportunities for research and marketing also. High productions, in conditions of economic sustainability and assured food safety, can only be achieved through the rational use of cultivation technologies, irrigation, fertilization and use of some cultivars with potential genetically performances. To achieve this goal, the present experiment focused on studying the influence of four tomato cultivars (Siriana F1, Minaret F1, HTP F1 and Inima de bou), in two irrigation regimes (5200 respectively 7800 m3) under chicken drops fertilizer compared with a non-fertilized control. The treatments used induced the increase of the fruit number per plant, ranging from 18 to 65%, statistically significant results (p<0.05) being obtained with the organic fertilizer on Minaret cultivar and the higher water quantity, compared to the control version. The highest production was obtained in the HTP F1 cultivars under organic fertilization and 7800 m3/ha irrigation.

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