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Influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the population fluctuation of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in an organic tomato farming

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Abstract

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917), is an important pest of tomato in South America, and has been reported in many countries in Europe and the Middle East. The population fluctuation of this species was examined during three consecutive crop years, in a commercial organic greenhouse in southeastern Paraná, subtropical region of Brazil. The T. absoluta abundance was evaluated in the tomato Cordilheira variety during the three crop years, along with TO60 cultivar in the first and Pizzadoro in the last two periods evaluated. Larvae and pupae of T. absoluta were collected; pest threshold levels were not reached in any of the crop years examined. A stepwise multiple regression revealed that minimum and mean temperature were factors that significantly affected the abundance of the tomato leafminer. The peaks of abundance coincided with high previous temperatures. Larval T. absoluta density was highest during the fruiting stage and the abundance was highest on the Cordilheira variety in all seasons and during the three crop years. Four species of parasitoids distributed in three families of the order Hymenoptera were found: Conura sp. Spinola, 1837 (Chalcididae), Earinus sp. Wesmael, 1837 (Braconidae), Myosoma sp. Robertson, 1900 (Braconidae), and Casinaria sp. Holmgren, 1859 (Ichneumonidae). The latter two are cited for the first time parasitizing T. absoluta. Based on the low level of infestation of the species, our findings demonstrate that the lower temperatures prevent T. absoluta from becoming a major pest in the evaluated region, characterized by subtropical climate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) for scholarship and financial support, Dr. Maria Christina de Almeida and Dr. Bolívar Rafael Garcete Barrett for the identification of larval parasitoids, Mr. Massatoshi Shiono and Mrs. Sumako Shiono by allowing the study to be carried out in their property and Dr. Carla Pedroso de Moraes for help in the field work.

Funding

This study was funded by Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) with scholarship (grant number 140548/2010–6).

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  1. Centro de Ciências Rurais, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus de Curitibanos, Rodovia Ulysses Gaboardi, Km 03, P.O. Box 103, Curitibanos, SC, Zip Code 89520-000, Brazil

    Flavia da Silva Krechemer

  2. Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, P.O. Box 19.020, Curitiba, PR, Zip Code 81531-990, Brazil

    Luís Amilton Foerster

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  1. Flavia da Silva Krechemer
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FSK and LA conceived and designed the research. FSK obtained the data and conducted data analyses. FSK and LA wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Flavia da Silva Krechemer.

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The author Flavia da Silva Krechemer has received scholarship from Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq).

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da Silva Krechemer, F., Foerster, L.A. Influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the population fluctuation of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in an organic tomato farming. Int J Trop Insect Sci 40, 199–208 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-019-00070-1

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