Population dynamic and determination of alternative management of the control of tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

This study was carried out in two tomato greenhouses in Eskişehir province between 2021 and 2022. In the study, the population of the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), the main pest of tomato, was monitored and were determined the alternative control possibilities with using two-color (black and white) containers containing liquid mixtures (molasses, brown sugar + yeast, spinosad) and pheromone traps. Five plants around each trap were checked and counted eggs, larvae, pupae, galleries and adults. Tomato leafminer adults were first detected in tomato greenhouses in delta traps on May 15 in 2021 and on April 30 in 2022. In this period when the larvae, pupae and adults of the pest reached the highest population coincided with August and September in both years. In the alternative control trial, it was determined that the adults of tomato leafminer preferred black colored traps more than white colored traps in both years. Among the liquid mixtures, it was found that the trap containing spinosad attracted the pest adults more than the trap containing molasses, and the trap containing molasses attracted the pest adults more than the trap containing yeast + sugar.