The present work was carried out at Experimental Farm, Fac. of Agric., Fayoum Univ. and aimed to shad some a light on population fluctuations of the tomato pinworm, T. absoluta and its associated natural enemies and relation to some weather factors at Fayoum Governorate on tomato crop (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivated in four successive plantations during 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons.Natural enemies associated with T. absoluta were the predator ( Atheta sp.) and 3 parasitiod hymenopteran insect species (Bracon sp, Halticoptera sp and Apanteles sp). The entomopatogenous bacteria Bacillus sp (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) was also isolated from dead and moribund larvae.In summer plantations, no larvae were observed on leaves and fruits during all season 2011. However, during the second summer season of 2012, slight infestations were recorded on tomato leaves during the farmer 4 weeks of the season and no infestations were observed on the fruits.In winter plantation: in 2011/12 the population fluctuated slightly from Nov. 2011until end of Feb 2012, one period activity was recorded from end of Feb until end of April. Fruits infestations began to appear from end of April extended to end of plantation. While in 2012/13, few larvae began to appear at mid Nov 2012, increased gradually during the successive weeks to arrive its highest on leaves at end of Feb 2013 (peak of 681 larvae /20 leaves). Fruit infestation increased slightly during the successive weeks of fruiting to arrive the highest count of larvae during the first week of March 2013 (214 larvae /20 fruits). Key words: Tuta absoluta, population dynamics, natural enemies, tomato INTRODUCTION Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is well known as a serious pest of tomato crops in Europe and South America Probst et al. (1999). T. absoluta is native to South America and detected in Europe for the first time in Spain at the end of 2006. Since then, it has rapidly invaded other European countries and spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, including parts of
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.