1. The South American Tomato Pin Worm
Tuta absoluta
A new challenge
Suggestions for a control strategy
Ing. Paco Lozano Rubio
Our advice, your growth!

2. Tuta absuluta:
overview
Pest Cultural Currative
Profile: Interventions: Interventions:
• Taxonomy • Clean start • Mass trapping
• Host • Hermiticity • Biological Control
• Origin • Hygiene • Chemical
• Distribution • Fysical control Corrections
• Morfology • Monitoring
• Damages
• Life cycle
Our advice, your growth!

3. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Taxonomy:
Class: Insecta (insects)
Order: Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies)
Family: Gelechiidae (curved-horn moths)
Genus: Tuta
Specie: T. absoluta (Povolny, 1994)
Synonyms:
• Scrobipalpula absoluta (Povolny, 1964)
• Gnorimoschema absoluta (Clarke, 1962)
• Phthorimaea absoluta (Meyrick, 1917)
Common name:
• South American tomato pinworm
• Tomato borer
17 October 2012

4. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Host plats:
• Solanacea family
• Main target crops: Tomato, eggplant, potato
• Other crops: tabaco, sweet pepper
• Weeds: Solanum nigrum, Datura stramonium
17 October 2012

5. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Origin & geographical distribution:
South America:
• Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru,
Uruguay, Venezuela.
• Not present in Andean regions (> 1000 m), as low temperature is a
limiting factor (Notz, 1992)
Asia:
• There is an old record of T. Absoluta attacking Solanum lyratum in
Japan (Clarke, 1962) but no recent records
Europe:
• Invasive specie in Europe since 2006
17 October 2012

6. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Origin & geographical distribution
17 October 2012

7. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Morphology:
Adults:
• Longitude: 6-7 mm
• Wingspan: 10 - 11 mm.
• Wings: gray brown, with dark spots
• Antenna: large, filiform, twirled
• Lifespan: 10-15 days , 6-7 days
• Activity time: night & twilight,
hided in daytime.
• Fecundity: 180 – 260 eggs /
17 October 2012

8. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Morphology:
Egg:
• Shape: small, cylindrical
• Color: creamy white (recently laid)
yellow-orange (before hedging)
• Size: 0.36 mm long, 0.22 mm wide
• Location : individual or small groups
73% on leaves
21% on stems
5% on sepals
1% on green fruits
(source: Estay, 2000)
17 October 2012

9. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

10. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Morphology:
Larva:
• 4 larval stages, each of different sizes and color.
• L1: 0.5 – 0.8 mm long
cream-coloured
young larvae mine the leave and feed on mesophyle tissue
• L2: 2.8 mm long
as they feed and grow, they turn yellowish-green
black stripe at the back of their head
• L3: 4.5 mm long.
maintain the yellow-green colour
• L4: about 7.5 mm. Full-grown larvae are greenish pink
before pupating, stop feeding
17 October 2012

11. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

12. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Morphology:
Pupa:
• Shape: cylindrical
• Colour: light brown
• Size: 4-5 mm long, 1.1 mm Ø
• Pupation in a silk cocoon
• Location: on crop or drops on floor
17 October 2012

13. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Damages:
Leaves:
• bladder-shaped mines >< leafminer
• Excrements at the end of the mines
• Mines turn brow and necrotic
• Larvae leave mines to penetrate other leaves, stems or fruits
17 October 2012

14. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Lyriomyza
T. absoluta
17 October 2012

15. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

16. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

17. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Damages:
Stems:
• Boreholes in young stems
• Heaps of dark granular excrements
Fruits:
• boreholes under and around the sepal
• Heaps of dark granular excrements
• unsuitable for sale and consumption.
17 October 2012

18. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

19. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
17 October 2012

20. Tuta absoluta
pest profile
Life cycle:
• min. activity T : 9 C
15 20 25 30
• Overwinter: Egg 10 7 4 3
egg, pupa or adult
not in the Mediterranean
Larva 36 23 15 11
• Diapause: Pupa 21 12 7 6
no food available
4-6 weeks Total 67 42 26 20
• 10 – 12 generations / year
Life span 23 17 13 9
17 October 2012

21. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Clean start:
End of crop:
• Treat crop and soil; i.e. chlorpyrifos-methyl + spinosad)
• Dispose and destroy all crop remains and weeds; i.e. burning
Disinfection:
• Greenhouse structure
• Focus on entre gates and windows
17 October 2012

22. 17 oktober 2012

23. Tuta absoluta
preventive intervention
Clean start
Hygiene:
• Remove and destroy all weeds (potential host plants) , also around
the greenhouse
• Plantlets free of pest (eggs, larvae, adults)
• Tools and crates free pest (eggs, larvae, adults)
Soil treatment:
• Plowing
• (Bio) solarization
• Min. 5-6 weeks fallowing
17 October 2012

24. Tuta absoluta
preventive intervention
Hermiticity
Ventilation
Insect screen
Insect proof netting
17 October 2012

25. Tuta absoluta
preventive intervention
Hermiticity
Mesh: min. 9 x 6 / cm² Permeability
180
160
140
120
N adulten
100
4x2
80 6x6
9x6
60
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
17 October 2012

26. Tuta absoluta
preventive intervention
Hermiticity
Dobble doors
17 October 2012

27. Tuta absoluta
preventive intervention
Hermiticity
Seal crack and holes
17 October 2012

28. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Physical control
Trapping:
• For hedged adults from the soil
• 10 – 15 days prior to planting
• 15 – 30 watertraps / ha + pheromones (or yellow sticky traps)
• Remore sticky traps before introductions of beneficials
17 October 2012

29. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Physical control
Remove and destroy
• infested tissue
• weeds
17 October 2012

30. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Monitoring
What?
• Detection presence of pest
• Follow up population development
Why?
• first damages observable after 2-3 weeks after first captures
• Threshold level
• Moment of intervention
How?
• Captures on traps (n adults)
• Observation of pest symptoms (% of damage)
17 October 2012

31. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Monitoring
Correlation captures and risk level
Correlation % symptomatic plants and risk level
N of captured adults % of symptomatic Plants Risk Level
0 - Non
1 5% Very Low
2-3 5 - 25% Low
4 - 30 25 - 50% Middle
30 - 100 > 50% High
> 50%,
> 100 Extreme
all larval stages
17 October 2012

32. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Monitoring
type of trap
350
300
250
N Adults per trap
200
Funnelval
Deltaval
150
Waterval
100
50
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
17 October 2012

33. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Monitoring
17 October 2012

34. Tuta absoluta
cultural intervention
Monitoring
4-6 delta traps / ha
Replace pheromone every 4-6
weeks
0.4-1.2 m height
17 October 2012

35. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Mass trapping:
Water traps
• 15 - 30 water traps / ha
• 40 cm height
• Oil layer
• Pheromone
Note:
• Captures
• No correlation N captures with % infested plants
17 octobre 2012

36. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Intervention
Risk Level Recommended intervention
Non Monitoring on traps
Very Low Monitoring on traps and crops
Low Monitoring on traps and crops
Intensify monitoring
Middle Preventive application of biological
products
Intensify monitoring
High
Intensify bio treatments
Extreme Corrective treatments
17 October 2012

37. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
17 October 2012

38. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Intervention:
Preventive application of biological products:
• every 10-15 days
• Bacillus thuringiensis, azadirachtine
Curative treatments:
• Spinosad : 3x / cyclus
• Indoxacarb: 6x / cyclus
• New Tuta chemicals available
17 octobre 2012

39. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Biological control:
Biopesticides:
• Bt
Mirids:
• Macrolophus caliginosus
• Nesidiocoris tenuis
Parasitoids:
• Trichogramma achaea
• Others in research: egg and larva parasitoid
17 October 2012

40. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Macrolophus
Nesidiocoris
Urbaneja et al. 2009 Urbaneja et al. 2009
Trial conditions: 24 h; 25ºC; 16:8 (L:D) Trial conditions: 5 larvae; 24 h. 25ºC; 16:8 (L:D)
17 October 2012 40

41. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
4.5 mirids /plant
3,0
2,5
Damaged fruits / 5 fruits
2,0
1,5
1,0
0.2 damaged fruits / 5 fruits = 4%
0,5
0,0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Mirids
Judit Arnó, IRTA 2009
17 October 2012

42. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Some considerations on mirids:
Predation by adults of eggs and early stage larval stages.
Contained Threshold at high mirid population levels > 4.5 / plant
Slow population development
Phytophagy – risk of feeding damage
Advance population development:
• Earlier releases (propagation area, 3-4 weeks after planting)
• Introduction of adults
• Increase dosage (1,5 /m²)
• External food source (Ephestia eggs)
17 October 2012

43. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Recommendation on release of Nesidiocoris tenuis:
Dosage:
0.5 – 1 /m²/ release, total 1.5-2 / m²
Moment of introduction
Planting August, 3 weeks later, in 2 releases
Planting September, as soon as possible, in 1 release (+ephestia)
Introduction method:
On plants or Biobox
Feed with ephestia eggs
Treatments:
Avoid extensive chemical treatments
during build-up face (3-4 weeks)
17 October 2012

44. Tuta absoluta
curative strategies
Trichogramma achaeae
Dosage:
50-100 /m²/w, total: 250-500 / m²
Moment of introduction:
first sign of galaries or adults catched on traps in spring time
Introduction method:
Low volume card, lower part of plants, good distributed over the crop
Treatments:
compatible products
Note: in research
17 October 2012