Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) is a key tomato pest in South America and, recently, in Europe and Africa. To develop efficient control methods for this pest, adequate rearing protocols are desirable. As an alternative to tomato leaves (natural diet), we evaluated four artificial diets. Biological traits including larval and pupal viability and development time, pupal weight and deformations were assessed. Additionally, the optimum container size and larval density were evaluated. The diet based on casein, wheat germ and cellulose allowed the best development of T. absoluta, showing higher viability and no negative effects on larval instars and pupal weight. The best container was a glass tube measuring Ø 1 × h 6 cm, topped with waterproof cotton, with a density of three larvae. To evaluate the suitability of this diet, T. absoluta was reared during eight generations and life-table parameters were estimated for the F1, F3, F6, and F8 generations. The total viability (egg–adult) increased over the generations, reaching 75% in the eighth generation. Based on life-table estimations no differences among generations were found. The net reproductive rate (Ro) was higher than 40, the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) ranged between 0.08 and 0.11, the finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.1, the mean generation time (T) have a maximum of 44 d and doubling time ranged from 5.89–8.32 generations. These results indicated that a diet based on casein, wheat germ and cellulose was suitable for T. absoluta rearing in laboratory conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.