Supercooling capacity and cold tolerance of the South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, a newly invaded pest in China

Abstract

Tuta absoluta is a devastating invasive pest worldwide, causing severe damage to the global tomato industry. It has been recorded recently in the northwestern border areas of China, posing a significant threat to tomato production. It was presumed that the region's winter-related low temperatures would avert the alien species from successfully overwintering. In this study, the supercooling capacity and low-temperature tolerance of this pest were examined under laboratory conditions and its overwintering potential in Xinjiang was estimated. The results showed that the lowest supercooling point was recorded in the adult stage (− 19.47 °C), while the highest (− 18.11 °C) was recorded in the pupal stage. The supercooling points of pupae and adults were not influenced by gender. The Ltemp50 and Ltemp90 of female and male adults were the lowest when exposed to cold for 2 h. However, when the duration of exposure extended from 4 to 10 h, the Ltemp50 and Ltemp90 of female and male pupae were the lowest. Comparison of the lowest Ltemp50 and Ltemp90 with temperatures in January indicated that T. absoluta might not be able to overwinter in most of the northern and central regions of Xinjiang. However, in the southern regions, the extremely low temperature was higher than the Ltemp90, suggesting that T. absoluta has a higher overwintering potential in these regions. These results form a basis for predicting the dispersal potential and possible geographic range of this pest in Xinjiang. In addition, our findings provide guidance for the control of this pest by reducing overwintering shelters.

Comprehensive Metabolome and Volatilome Analyses in Eggplant and Tomato Reveal Their Differential Responses to Tuta absoluta Infestation

“…There have been several efforts to monitor the global invasions of T. absoluta over the past decade (Campos et al, 2017 ; Han et al, 2018 ; Li et al, 2021 ). Chemical control is the primary measure to manage T. absoluta in both native and invaded areas (Silva et al, 2018 ; Langa et al, 2021 ).…”

Impact of low temperature and host plant on Tuta absoluta

“…The survival and reproduction after exposure at low temperature may explain their rapid spread in many countries, including most recently in regions of China (Li et al., 2021). Even with effective surveillance mechanisms and phytosanitary expertise to intercept infested vegetables, ever‐growing tourism and increasing intra‐continental trade enhance the likelihood of rapid range expansion through alternative hosts.…”

Rapid Adaptive Evolution of Ophraella Communa in New Low Temperature Environment

“…It might be an appropriate survival proxy for lethal temperature in many freeze intolerant insect species (Salt 1961;Ditrich 2018). It is a widely used metric to estimate the cold tolerance of insects (Zhou et al 2011b;Van Damme et al 2015;Feng et al 2018;Li et al 2020). This result suggests that Trets mediated trehalose levels to protect O. communa against the cold stress.…”