Development and survival of Tuta absoluta on four tomato hybrids
Ben Othman, S.
In the present study, the influence of different tomato hybrids on the growth and development of Tuta absoluta was investigated under laboratory conditions. The results revealed that the larva development differs significantly among tested hybrids. The shortest development time was recorded on the Elpida hybrid (19.9 days) while the longest (28 days) was on the Electra hybrid. On the Belladona and Luana hybrids, the development time was 25 days and 21.9 days respectively. When assessing the mortality of immature instars of T. absoluta the highest value was observed on the Elpida hybrid (63.41 percent) followed by Luana (60.2 percent), Electra (53.85) and finally Belladona (42.7 percent). The development time of males was significantly shorter than that of females in all tested hybrids; for example when the larva fed on Elpida leaves, the total development period for males was 18.88 plus-minus 0.22 days while for females it was significantly prolonged to 20.26 plus-minus 0.1 days. The oviposition assay showed a significant difference between the number of laid eggs on plants, and red and green fruits. Leaves were preferred over fruits. When only fruits were offered, gravid females preferred to lay eggs on tomato fruits with a bigger size (Tsampi fruit: 3.1 eggs/fruit, Pomontoro: 2.1 eggs/fruit and Amoroso: 0.8 eggs/fruit) while eggs were not laid on the small-sized fruits of cherry hybrids. The highest egg hatch ratio was registred on Elpida fruit, while during the study of oviposition preference of T. absoluta on matute fruits of five tomato hybrids, the highest egg hatch ratio was recorded on Pomontoro fruits.
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