The tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an invasive pest, that caused a significant damage to the tomato crop in the Middle East area. It infests Solanaceae plants especially tomato, Lycopersicon esculuntum Mill. To find parasitoids and predators for biological control of this pest, samples of tomato leaves infested with T. absoluta were collected from Qualiobya and Giza Governorates. Three genera of hymenopterous parasitoids, Diglyphus sp. (Eulophidae), Elasmus spp. (Elasmidae) and Telenomus sp. (Scelionidae) are the first record in Egypt. The predator bug, Nesidiocoris tenuis Reuter (Heteroptera: Miridae) was also recorded. T. absoluta showed two peaks of 30.3 and 25.0 leaf mines/10 leaflets on 7 th and 28 th of May, 2013, respectively. N. tenuis also recorded two peaks of 58.8 and 73.3 nymphs and adults/plant on the same previous dates, respectively. N. tenuis was mass reared to evaluate the predatory efficiency of nymph and adult stages on T. absoluta eggs. The nymph, adult male and female consumed 113.3, 81.5 and 125.3 eggs of T. absoluta, respectively. The 4 th nymphal instar devoured the highest number (30.6 eggs), while the 1 st nymphal instar ate the lowest (7eggs). Therefore, N. tenuis was highly effective in controlling T. absoluta eggs under laboratory conditions.
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.