Abstract
Field studies were conducted in two sites (Saheline and Chott-Mariem) in the Centre-East of Tunisia in 2012 and 2013 to evaluate the influence of different colors of pan water traps and age of pheromone dispenser on capture of males of the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta. Three experiments were setup using colored traps (white, yellow, orange, red and green) in a randomized block design with four replicates. The first trial was conducted during the period from November, 2012 to February, 2013, the second between December, 2012 and April, 2013 and the third during April to May, 2013. Results indicate, in all experiments, that there is no significant difference in male capture according to trap color. However, in the third trial, green colored traps captured, respectively, more than 5-fold, 4-fold, 4-fold and 2-fold for red, orange, yellow and white colored traps. The experiments aimed to determine the effect of pheromone aging on male trapping, results revealed a significant difference between aged lures and control. Fresh lures captured from 2 to 13-more moths than weathered pheromone capsules. Key words: Aging lure, color, fresh lure, pan water trap, pheromone, Tunisia, Tuta absoluta.
Highlights
The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is the most important constraint to tomato production in Tunisia (Photo 1) where this crop plays an important role in farming production both in greenhouses and open fields
Virgin female of tomato leafminer releases a sex pheromone that strongly attracts males (Quiroz, 1978) which is identified by Attygalle et al (1996) as (3E, 8Z, 11Z)-3,8,11-tetradecatrien-1-xyl acetate
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the average number of captured males according to inspection dates, shows no significant difference between different tested colored traps on
Summary
The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is the most important constraint to tomato production in Tunisia (Photo 1) where this crop plays an important role in farming production both in greenhouses and open fields. In spite of health hazards, occurrence of resistant biotypes of the pest, high cost and destruction of population of natural enemies, insecticides are routinely applied as sole control strategy against this pest (Braham et al, 2012). Lepidoptera pheromones have been successfully used for insect monitoring and mating disruption of insects (Wyatt, 1998). Pheromones are used to monitor population of insects to determine the correct timing to apply control strategies such as introduction of natural enemies, intensification of mass trapping and applying insecticides.
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