Bio-ecological charactereistics of tomato leaf miner tuta absoluta (meyrick) (lepidoptera: gelechiidae) in mi̇las (Muğla) field conditions

In this study, some bio-ecological characteristics of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) were studied in open field tomato production areas in Milas (Muğla) in 2014 and 2015. Tuta absoluta adults continued to survive in nature throughout the year, and produced 9.11 and 9.98 generations in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In both production seasons, larval population densities of T. absoluta was found the lowest in Pembe tomato variety while the highest in BT-Tokat. When compared to other sticky color traps, a higher number of adult individuals were captured in red and yellow color sticky traps. In coloured Delta - Pheromone trap combinations, the number of adult individuals caught in white and black color traps was higher than the number of adults caught in other colors. In field conditions, total mean larval development time of T. absoluta was determined as 26.00 25.63 and 27.83 days for the first generation in 2014 and for two successive generations in 2015. The highest mortality rate was determined on egg stage in both experimental seasons, in field conditions.