Host preference of leaf minor and fruit borer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) on four solanaceous crop Ahmad Tufail1,*, Haile Adugna2, Sira Aya3, Gebreab Dejen3, Bereketeab Fiori3, Zaid Henok3 1Associate Professor, Department of Plant Protection, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea 2Professor, Department of Plant Protection, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea 3Graduating Students, Department of Plant Protection, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea *E-mail: tufailrm@gmail.com
Online published on 30 November, 2019. Abstract The field study was carried out at Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea to find out the most preferable host of Tuta absoluta among the four solanaceae crop i.e. tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), chili (Capsicum annuum) and datura (Datura stramonium) under protected and open field condition. The inference drawn on the basis of average number of larvae/leaf/plant and per twigs of different host plants revealed that the tomato plant harbouring maximum number of larvae per plant (44.27) and per twig (18.5) under open field condition and 61.4 on leaves and 19.27 on the twig under protected conditions was highly preferred by T. absoluta. Chili and datura under protected as well as in open field conditions was found to be least preferred. Top Keywords Tuta absoluta, host preference, solanaceous crop, oviposional behaviour. Top |