The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is a devastating pest of tomato originating from South America. After its initial detection in eastern Spain in 2006, it rapidly invaded various other European countries and spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. If no control measures are taken, then the pest can cause up to 80-100% yield losses in tomato crops in recently invaded areas and may pose a threat to both greenhouse and open-field tomato production. The exceptional speed and extent of T. absoluta invasion have called for studies documenting its biology and ecology, while indicating an urgent need for efficient and sustainable management methods. The development of approaches to manage T. absoluta would be facilitated through a detailed revision of information on this pest in its area of origin. This review combines information on the invasion by T. absoluta, its ecology, and potential management strategies, including data that may help the implementation of efficient biological control programs. These programs, together with a variety of other management tactics, may allow efficient integrated pest management of T. absoluta in Europe and Mediterranean Basin countries.

In augmentative biological control (ABC), invertebrate and microbial organisms are seasonally released in large numbers to reduce pests. Today it is applied on more than 30 million ha worldwide. Europe is the largest commercial market for invertebrate biological control agents, while North America has the largest sales of microbials. A strong growth in use of ABC, particularly of microbial agents, is taking place in Latin America, followed by Asia. The current popularity of ABC is due to (1) its inherent positive characteristics (healthier for farm workers and persons living in farming communities, no harvesting interval or waiting period after release of agents, sustainable as there is no development of resistance against arthropod natural enemies, no phytotoxic damage to plants, better yields and a healthier product, reduced pesticide residues [well below the legal Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs)], (2) professionalism of the biological control industry (inexpensive large scale mass production, proper quality control, efficient packaging, distribution and release methods, and availability of many ([440 species) control agents for numerous pests), (3) a number of recent successes showing how biological control can save agricultural production when pesticides fail or are not available, (4) several Handling Editor: Russell Messing.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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Since its detection in the Mediterranean basin at the end of 2006 and later in other European countries, the South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), has become a serious threat to tomato crops. In newly infested areas, it is especially problematic during the first years of its presence. Nevertheless, after 2-3 years, the incidence of T. absoluta has become less severe in certain areas. There are several factors contributing to this decline, such as the increase in growers' knowledge of pest behaviour and biology and the correct application of integrated pest control strategies. The impact of opportunistic native natural enemies (fortuitous biological control) should be considered as one of the key factors in this decline. In this review, available information on indigenous natural enemies is updated, and the current pest management approaches used against T. absoluta are addressed. Finally, future scenarios for biological control of this pest are discussed.

Tomato is the most important vegetable crop in Spain. The mirid bug Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) commonly appears in large numbers in protected and open-air tomato crops where little or no broad-spectrum insecticides are used. Nesidiocoris tenuis is known to be a predator of whiteflies, thrips and several other pest species. However, it is also considered a pest because it can feed on tomato plants, causing necrotic rings on stems and flowers and punctures in fruits. Our objectives were to evaluate predation by N. tenuis on sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius under greenhouse conditions and establish its relationship to N. tenuis feeding on tomato. Two different release rates of N. tenuis were compared with an untreated control (0, 1 and 4 N. tenuis plant -1 ) in cages of 8 m 2 . Significant reductions of greater than 90% of the whitefly population and correspondingly high numbers of N. tenuis were observed with both release rates. Regression analysis showed that necrotic rings on foliage caused by N. tenuis were best explained by the ratio of B. tabaci nymphs:N. tenuis as predicted by the equation y = 15.086x -0.6359.