Effectiveness of pheromone traps against Tuta absoluta

In the Tunisian south, the heated greenhouses are an important axis of development of agriculture thanks to the big geothermal potential of this zone. Currently, this sector suffers from several phytosanitary problems. In the last years, a new insect, Tuta absoluta, threaten the cultures of cultivated tomatoes in heated greenhouses.
To improve control of T. absoluta, the effectiveness of pheromone traps (associated or not with a source of light) and luminous traps (associated or not with water, with limed buckets for limed covers) were compared. The results show that the traps with pheromones significantly catch more adults of T. absoluta compared to all the other types of traps (average number of trapped adults of T. absoluta = 73.4 (± 142)). The luminous traps associated with water, with limed buckets as with limed covers show, as for them, an intermediate effectiveness. In spite of this slightly less effectiveness, the luminous traps have the advantage of low costs of production as well as the advantage of simultaneously capturing males and females of T. absoluta.