Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917)

Cvetkovska-Gjorgievska, Aleksandra, Dedov, Ivailo, Hristovski, Slavcho, Langourov, Mario, Lazarevska, Stanislava, Prelik, Dana & Simov, Nikolay, 2019, New records of allochtonous, invasive and pest invertebrate species from the Republic of Macedonia, Ecologica Montenegrina 20, pp. 56-70 : 63-64

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) – Tomato leafminer ( Lepidoptera , Gelechiidae )

Record: Gevgelija, Bogdanci, Valandovo, greenhouses with tomato, 2011, leg. M. Postolovski, S. Lazarevska, S. Bandzo.

Origin: South America ( Peru, Brasil) ( Garcia &Vercher 2010).

Comments: Pest of tomatoes of South American origin, which first appeared in Europe in Castellón (eastern Spain) in 2006. Tuta absoluta has expanded very quickly in the last three years (2007-2009) to most Mediterranean countries, as well as to many countries in central and north Europe ( Garcia &Vercher 2010). In 2008 the pest was found in southern part of France in tomato crops ( Germain et al. 2009). Also, the first appearance of the pest in Italy happened in the spring of 2008 in tomato crops in southern part of Sardinia and Sicily ( Speranza & Sannino 2012). In 2009 the pest was distributed on the Balkan Peninsula on Crete, Peloponnese and Western Greece in tomato greenhouses and also in Bulgaria in field and greenhouses in southern part of the country ( Harizanova et al. 2009). That year, the pest is also recorded in greenhouses in Slovenia ( ŢeŢlina et al. 2011) and Croatia ( Culjak et al. 2010). In 2010 T. absoluta is recorded in greenhouses with tomato and outdoor in coastal area of Montenegro ( Hrnčić & Radonjić 2012) and Serbia ( Tosevski et al. 2011).

First records of T. absoluta in Macedonia are in tomato greenhouses in the eastern part of the country in 2011 ( Postolovski et al. 2011).

T. absoluta feeds almost exclusively on tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) but there is also one report that it eats other plant species from Solanaceae family ( Garcia & Espul 1982).

Tomato leaf miner has high biotic potential and develops 12-15 generations per year in greenhouses. After its introduction into Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, T. absoluta has already caused extensive economic damage. Infestation of tomato plants occur throughout the entire crop cycle. Feeding damage is caused by all larval instars and throughout the whole plant. The larvae feed on the mesophyll tissue on the leaves, forming irregular leaf mines or extensive galleries in the stem, which affect the development of the plants. The larvae also attack fruit and the entryways are used by secondary pathogens, leading to fruit rot. The impact of the pest includes severe yield loss reaching 100%, increasing tomato prices, bans on the trade of tomato including seedlings, an increase in synthetic insecticide applications, disruption of integrated management programs of other tomato pests, and an increase in the cost of crop protection. In addition, the outbreak of this pest led to a significant augmentation of risks for growers, consumers and the environment associated with the blind use of chemicals ( Zappalà et al. 2012).