Description:
The adult is a moth, 6-7mm long, brown with black spots on anterior wings. The first- instar larvae are whitish becoming greenish, while in the second to fourth-instar larvae are light pink. They feed inside the leaf producing large galleries, causing up to 100% loss of yield. It has many generations per year and it’s considered to be the most severe pest of tomato.
Symptoms:
Leaves: extensive mines on leaves, necrotic areas
Stem: necrotic areas
Fruits: visible exit holes on fruits, premature drop, reduced size, internal feeding
Hosts: tomato, potato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco and some solanaceous weeds
Taxonomy:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Lepidoptera |
| Family | Gelechiidae |
| Genus | Tuta |
| Species | absoluta |
References:
Mohamed Abdel-Raheem, (2017). The tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta, Biology, Morphology and Control: The tomato leaf miner T. absoluta. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing