Search results for "Tuta absoluta"

The predatory mirid Dicyphus maroccanus as a new potential biological control agent in tomato crops

2014

The first record of the omnivorous predator Dicyphus maroccanus Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae) inhabiting tomato crops in the Valencia region (East Coast of Spain) was in 2009. Since then, D. maroccanus has often been found preying on the eggs of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in this area. To evaluate this predator’s potential as a biological control agent, its life-history traits in the presence and absence of prey [(eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)] on tomato plants were studied under laboratory conditions. Immature stages that preyed on eggs of E. kuehniella developed successfully. However, no nymph completed development on the plant without t…