Development of new strategies against the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta Meyrick

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), is a Lepidoptera considered as one of the major pest of Solanaceae. It causes important yield loss in South America, where it is originated, and in the West Palearctic region, where it was introduced in 2006. Insecticide applications and the use of the sexual pheromone have been the main control method used against T. absoluta. Insecticides are inefficient because of the endophytic habit of larvae, which are protected in the leaf mesophyll or inside fruits. Moreover, resistances against various insecticides have been reported. The sexual pheromone based strategies also provide poor results. One explanation has been recently provided by the demonstration of a parthenogenetic reproduction in T. absoluta, from the research group in Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (ULg). Because there is a real need to improve crop protection against T. absoluta and in the meanwhile reducing the use of synthetic insecticidal compounds, researches aim at providing new perspectives to further biocontrol strategies against T. absoluta.