Incidence of South American tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) and its natural enemies in Southern Karnataka Devaraj A.N.1,*, Kumar Prasad2, Aswathanarayanareddy N.3 1College of Horticulture, Bengaluru 2College of Horticulture, Mysuru 3HREC, Hogalagere, Kolar *Email: devarajhort@gmail.com
Online published on 23 October, 2018. Abstract Surveys carried out in four districts of southern Karnataka viz., Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Kolar and Mysuru to know the incidence level of South American Tomato Leaf Miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick). These undertaken at monthly intervals from July 2015 to April 2016 revealed that the infestation ranged from a low (5.97% leaf) during November 2015 and (1.59% fruit) during July 2015 to a maximum (24.72% leaf and 13.99% fruit damage) during February 2016. The study also evaluated the effect of mulching in reducing the infestation, besides recording two natural enemies from the surveyed areas in southern Karnataka. Top Keywords Tuta absoluta, survey, incidence, leaf and fruit damage, population dynamics, weather factors, natural enemies, host plants, mulching. Top |