Tuta absoluta (tomato leafminer); adult at rest ©Marja van der Straten Organization/NVWA Plant Protection Service/Bugwood – CC BY-NC 3.0 US
Tuta absoluta (commonly known as tomato leaf miner) is a devastating pest of tomato which originated from South America. It can breed between 10-12 generations a year and each female can lay upto 250-300 eggs in her life time. This pest has been very quickly crossing borders and devastating tomato production in both protected and open fields. The infestation of this pest is also reported on other solanaceous crops like potato, aubergine and common beans. The pest has spread from South America to several parts of Europe, entire Africa and has now spread to India. This pest is observed for the first time infesting tomato crop in Maharashtra, India reported by Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It has a potential to cause up to 90% loss of yield and fruit quality under greenhouse and field conditions. Plants are damaged by larval stages by direct feeding on leaves, stems, buds, calyces, young fruit, or ripe fruit and by the invasion of secondary pathogens which enter through the wounds made by the pest. To read more on this click here
Fore more plantwise resources on Tuta absoluta click here
External links for more information
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Reblogged this on CABI Invasives Blog and commented:
Additional information about Tuta absoluta can be found on the CABI Invasive Species Compendium http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/49260
Thank you, Manju Thakur. I did not know about the pest. Could you tell a little bit about the pest in Bangladesh?
Blimey, is there a non chemical treatment for these invasives?
yes. You can see the nonchemical methods here http://www.plantwise.org/FullTextPDF/2014/20147801309.pdf
Is it an invasive species or it was recorded late, when it spread to tomato fields in almost all southern states of India.
Yes because of the lack of expertise to diagnose the pest