Mass trapping low-density populations of Tuta absoluta with various types of traps in field-grown tomatoes

Abstract

Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) has recently invaded and spread through the major tomato-growing regions in Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East. The leaf-mining habit of this invasive pest makes chemical or biological control more difficult. As an alternative, mass trapping could be used to manage low initial densities of newly arriving populations by exploiting Allee effects. In 2012 and 2013, experiments were conducted with three types of traps using a density of 40 traps per ha in open-field tomato crops in Turkey. The treatments were comprised of: (1) delta traps baited with pheromone only; (2) water pan traps baited with pheromone only; (3) water pan traps with both pheromone and a light source; and (4) insecticide-treated control. The moths were first recorded in traps in mid-June. Moth catches showed a trimodal seasonal activity and continued until the end of harvest in late August. Delta traps caught significantly more moths than the other two trap types. Female moths were only captured in pheromone-baited water traps with a light source, representing 13.9 and 12.7 % of the total moth catch in these traps in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Mass trapping with delta traps significantly reduced the percentage of infested leaves and fruits compared with insecticide-treated controls. Factors affecting the trapping efficiency of each treatment in the field are discussed.