4 th ESENIAS Workshop

Tuta absoluta Povolny (: ), the exotic pest in

Sevcan ÖZTEMİZ1

The leafminer, absoluta Povolny (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an alien pest of tomato and other crops. It is native to South- America and at present is distributed in , North Africa and Asia. T. absoluta was first detected in the Aegean and Marmara Regions of Turkey in 2009 (Kilic 2010), but now almost all the Regions of Turkey are infested. T. absoluta spread with agricultural trade between countries and continents (Caceres 1992). Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the first most important vegetable crop in Turkey where production is 11 million tons (TUIK 2012). With the entry of pests into the country, there has been a decrease in the production of tomatoes in Turkey, and 45 million € loss has occurred in the economy. If no control measures were taken, T. absoluta reduces yield and fruit quality, causing up to 100% yield losses in both greenhouse and open-field tomato production. If control measures were applied, crop losses range from 1-5%. In Turkey, pesticides were applied about 13 times per season against T. absoluta. Considering tomato production area, the annual cost of chemical control is 160.7 million €. T. absoluta is a multivoltine species with high reproductive potential to spread. T. absoluta continues development as long as the food and weather conditions are favorable and has 10 to 12 generations in the warm and humid conditions in Mediterranean. The oligophagous , T. absoluta has many alternative hosts in order to maintain the viability and spread in the invaded areas. Plants of four different families including Solanacaeae, , and Chenopodiaceae have been identified as hosts of T. absoluta in Turkey (Anonymous 2011, Portakaldali et al. 2013). The use of chemical pesticides is a common practice to control the pest, but due to the risk of developing resistance of the pest (Siqueira et al. 2000), it is very

1 Biological Control Research Station, Adana,Turkey; E-mail: [email protected]

7 16-17 December 2013 - Çanakkale important to combine all the control measures available and not to rely only on insecticide sprays and take into account all information in the origin of the pest.

Conclusions/ Suggestions/ Remarks Invasion of pest is irreversible. Management requires coordinated efforts of research scientists, extension services and growers in invaded countries. Integrated pest management (IPM) is the most promising strategy to control T. absoluta in Turkey.

Keywords: Tuta absoluta, exotic, invasive, management, Turkey.

References ANONYMOUS (2011) Plant Protection Technical Instructions: Tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, General Directorate of Agricultural Research, Ankara, Turkey. CACERES S (1992) La polilla del tomate en Corrientes. Biologı ´a y control. Estacio ´n Experimental Agropecuaria Bela Vista, INTA,19 pp. KILIC T (2010) First record of Tuta absoluta in Turkey. Phytoparasitica 38 (3): 243-244. PORTAKALDALI M OZTEMIZ S KUTUK H (2013) A New Host Plant for Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Turkey. Journal Entomological Research Society, 15 (3): 21-24. SIQUEIRA HAA GUEDES RNC PICANCO MC (2000) Insecticide Resistance in Populations of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 2 (2): 147-153. TUIK (2012) Plant protection statistics. Available at: http://www.tuik.gov.tr, (Accessed: March 28, 2012).

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