Natural enemies of the South American moth, Tuta absoluta, in Europe, North Africa and Middle East, and their potential use in pest control strategies

Abstract

1The South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is an 2 invasive Neotropical pest. After its first detection in Europe it rapidly invaded more than 30 3Western Palaearctic countries becoming a serious agricultural threat to tomato production in both

Control and Management of Tomato Leafminer -Tuta Absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidotera, Gelechiidae).A Review

“…Biological control method is potentially very beneficial tactic to develop [23,28].It has been used against crop pest insects belonging to the orders Homoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, among others. According to [21,14,29,30]; biological control agents (living antagonistsnatural enemies: predators, parasitoids and pathogens) are considered as one possible solution of the T. absoluta crisis. This strategy offers a more sustainable and less expensive alternative to chemical use.…”

Efficacy of a Beauveria bassiana strain, Bacillus thuringiensis and their combination against the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta

“…Among the management methods used in IPM programs of T. absoluta (Amer et al 2012, Cagnotti et al 2012, Caparros Megido et al 2012, Cocco et al 2013, biological control is an environmentally and economically sound management method for this pest in Europe (Desneux et al 2010, Zappalà et al 2013.…”

Intraguild predation of Orius niger (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) on Trichogramma evanescens (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

“…Like other generalist predators, species of Orius may occur at the same time as species of Trichogramma in agroecosystems and often share one or more species of prey/ host in common (Kayapınar, 1991;Romeis & Shanower, 1996;Tillman et al, 2009;Zappala et al, 2013). Results of this study reveal the occurrence of intraguild predation by O. niger on eggs of E. kuehniella, which were previously parasitized by T. evanescens.…”