Suitability of the PestÃÆâÃâÃâ¬ÃâÃâPlant System Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)ÃÆâÃâÃâ¬ÃâÃâTomato for Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Parasitoids and Insights for Biological Control
Submitted by Agripest on 19th Jan 2014BIOLOGICAL AND MICROBIAL CONTROL
Suitability of the PestÃÆâÃâÃâ¬ÃâÃâPlant System Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera:
Gelechiidae)ÃÆâÃâÃâ¬ÃâÃâTomato for Trichogramma (Hymenoptera:
Trichogrammatidae) Parasitoids and Insights for Biological Control
ANAỈ̮̬̉S CHAILLEUX,1,2,3 ANTONIO BIONDI,1,4 PENG HAN,1 ELISABETH TABONE,5
AND NICOLAS DESNEUX1
J. Econ. Entomol. 106(6): 2310ÃÆÃÆÃâÃÂ2321 (2013); DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/EC13092
ABSTRACT The South American tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae),
is a major pest that has recently invaded Afro-Eurasia. Biological control, especially by Trichogramma
parasitoids, is considered to be promising as a management tool for this pest. However, further
development of Trichogramma-based biocontrol strategies would beneÃÆÃÆÃâÞt from assessing the impact of
released parasitoid offspring on the pest. Under laboratory conditions, we 1) compared the parasitism
of ÃÆÃÆÃâÞve Trichogramma species-strains on the pestÃÆÃÆÃâÃÂplant system T. absolutaÃÆÃÆÃâÃÂtomato, and 2) assessed
various biological traits of parasitoids, mass-reared on a factitious host (Ephestia kuehniella Zeller),
when developing on T. absoluta. In addition, we evaluated the overall efÃÆÃÆÃâÞciency of two speciÃÆÃÆÃâÞc
Trichogramma species when released under greenhouse conditions in combination with a common
natural enemy in tomato crop, the predator Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur. Parasitoids emerging from
T. absoluta on tomato showed lower parasitism rates and poor biological traits, for example, wing
deformations, reduced longevity, when compared with the control reared on the factitious host. Under
greenhouse conditions, the parasitoids that developed on T. absoluta after initial releases contributed
little to biological control of T. absoluta, and parasitism tended to be lower when the predator was
present. However, a slightly higher T. absoluta control level was achieved by combining the predator
and release of the parasitoid Trichogramma achaeae Nagaraja and Nagarkatti. This study shows that
Trichogramma parasitoids may not build up populations on the T. absolutaÃÆÃÆÃâÃÂtomato system, but that
Trichogramma parasitoids can be used in combination with M. pygmaeus to enhance biological control
of the pest in tomato crops.