3 Review(s)

Control: Tuta Abosulta (Tomato Leafminer) Description: Host crops: Tomato, cherry Tomato, Potato. Pest Identification: Adult are about 10 mm long have fili form antennae and silverish-grey scales, black spots on anterior wings. Life cycle: Tuta absoluta is a holometabolous insect with a high rate of reproduction. It may be able to complete 10-12 generations per year depending on environmental conditions. Tuta absoluta completes a generation in 28 days. Adult males live longer than females. Both genders mate multiple times. The first mating usually occurs the day after adults emerge. Each female can lay up to 260 eggs in a lifetime. Freshly hatched larvae are light yellow or green and only 0.5 mm in length. As they mature, larvae develop a darker green color and a characteristic dark band posterior to the head capsule. Four larval instars develop. Larvae do not enter diapauses when food is available. Pupation may take place in the soil, on the leaf surface, within mines or in packaging material. A cocoon is built if pupation does not take place in the soil.