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Biological invasion of European tomato crops by Tuta absoluta: ecology, geographic expansion and prospects for biological control

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Abstract

The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is a devastating pest of tomato originating from South America. After its initial detection in eastern Spain in 2006, it rapidly invaded various other European countries and spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. If no control measures are taken, then the pest can cause up to 80–100% yield losses in tomato crops in recently invaded areas and may pose a threat to both greenhouse and open-field tomato production. The exceptional speed and extent of T. absoluta invasion have called for studies documenting its biology and ecology, while indicating an urgent need for efficient and sustainable management methods. The development of approaches to manage T. absoluta would be facilitated through a detailed revision of information on this pest in its area of origin. This review combines information on the invasion by T. absoluta, its ecology, and potential management strategies, including data that may help the implementation of efficient biological control programs. These programs, together with a variety of other management tactics, may allow efficient integrated pest management of T. absoluta in Europe and Mediterranean Basin countries.

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Ackowledgements

We thank José María Guitián Castrillón and Francisco Javier García Domínguez (Tragsatec, Spain) for their involvement on CLIMEX analysis, and comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We also thank the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Pest Science for the invitation to submit a review article on Tuta absoluta to the journal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), 400 route des chappes, BP 167, 06903, Sophia-Antipolis, France

    Nicolas Desneux, Eric Wajnberg, Elisabeth Tabone, Jeannine Pizzol & Christine Poncet

  2. Horticulture Research Center, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Chia (Cundinamarca), Colombia

    Kris A. G. Wyckhuys & Consuelo A. Narváez-Vasquez

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroambientali-Entomologia, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, viale G. Fanin, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Giovanni Burgio

  4. ENEA, National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Economic Sustainable Development, Trisaia Research Centre, S.S. 106 Jonica Km 419.5, 75026, Rotondella, Italy

    Salvatore Arpaia

  5. Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Unidad de Entomología, Carretera Moncada-Náquera km 4,5, 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

    Joel González-Cabrera & Alberto Urbaneja

  6. Tecnologias y Servicios Agrarios, S. A., Tragsatec, C/Hnos. Garcia Noblejas, 37C. 2a Planta, 280037, Madrid, Spain

    Diana Catalán Ruescas

  7. Biotop, 1306 route de Biot, 06560, Valbonne, France

    Jacques Frandon

  8. Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Agroalimentaria, Universidad de Almería, Ctra Sacramento s/n, 04120, Almería, Spain

    Tomás Cabello

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  1. Nicolas Desneux
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  2. Eric Wajnberg
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  14. Alberto Urbaneja
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Correspondence to Nicolas Desneux.

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Communicated by M. Traugott.

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Desneux, N., Wajnberg, E., Wyckhuys, K.A.G. et al. Biological invasion of European tomato crops by Tuta absoluta: ecology, geographic expansion and prospects for biological control. J Pest Sci 83, 197–215 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-010-0321-6

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