Serigne Sylla

Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): a new threat to tomato production in sub-Saharan Africa

In sub-SaharanAfrica, vegetable crops are an essential component of sustainable development, with a significant contribution to food security and nutritional balance, but also an important source of income for resource-poor growers, especially in urban and peri-urban areas (FAO 2012). However, a major constraint to growing field horticultural crops is the reduction in yield and quality caused by insect pests by direct feeding or as plant disease vectors (James et al. 2010; Ekesi et al. 2011). Chemical control is the main control strategy implemented by growers to cope with insect pests (Ngowi et al. 2007; Grzywacz et al. 2010). Extensive and sometimes inappropriate use of chemical insecticides to control insect pests increases production costs and negatively impacts food safety (residues), human health and environment, especially biodiversity and beneficial arthropods (Desneux et al. 2007; Biondi et al. 2012). The implementation of effective and ecologically-sound integrated pest management (IPM) strategies is needed to develop sustainable vegetable production.

Life-history traits of Macrolophus pygmaeus with different prey foods

Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a generalist predatory mirid widely used in augmentative biological control of various insect pests in greenhouse tomato production in Europe, including the invasive tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae). However, its biocontrol efficacy often relies on the presence of alternative prey. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of various prey foods (Ephestia kuehniella eggs, Bemisia tabaci nymphs, Tuta absoluta eggs and Macrosiphum euphorbiae nymphs) on some life history traits of M. pygmaeus. Both nymphal development and adult fertility of M. pygmaeus were significantly affected by prey food type, but not survival. Duration of nymphal stage was higher when M. pygmaeus fed on T. absoluta eggs compared to the other prey. Mean fertility of M. pygmaeus females was greatest when fed with B. tabaci nymphs, and was greater when offered M. euphorbiae aphids and E. kuehniella eggs than when offered T. absoluta eggs. Given the low quality of T. absoluta eggs, the efficacy of M. pygmaeus to control T. absoluta may be limited in the absence of other food sources. Experiments for assessing effectiveness of generalist predators should involve the possible impact of prey preference as well as a possible prey switching.

Seasonal decline of the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta, in the shifting landscape of a vegetable-growing area

Insect pest populations exhibit seasonal dynamics in response to changes in resource availability or other environmental factors such as climatic conditions, natural enemies, and intra‐ or interspecific competition. Understanding such dynamics is critical for developing effective integrated pest management strategies. The objective of the present study was to identify factors driving the seasonal decline of the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), in the shifting landscape of a vegetable‐growing area in Senegal. A set of 42 tomato fields was monitored for the number of T. absoluta adults caught in pheromone traps and for the incidence of larvae, during 5 months from June to November 2016 in the Niayes area (Senegal). The surface of solanaceous host crops, climatic conditions, and abundance of natural enemies were also monitored. A drastic decline in T. absoluta abundance was observed during the rainy season. The decrease in resource availability, especially tomato crops, in the surrounding landscape of monitored fields was the main factor affecting the population dynamics during the rainy season. However, alternative host crops such as eggplant and Ethiopian eggplant, can provide ‘reservoirs’ for residual populations of the pest. For applied purpose, it would be interesting to focus the management efforts on residual populations during the rainy season, to make more difficult the reconstitution of populations during the dry season.

Spatial and temporal incidence of insect pests in farmers' cabbage fields in Senegal

In Senegal, damage caused by insect pests is a major obstacle to seasonal stability and an increase in cabbage production. Little is known about the spatial and temporal distribution of cabbage pests, which makes the design of management recommendations to small-scale farmers challenging. The objectives of this study were to: (i) evaluate the status of insect pests observed in cabbage farmers’ fields; (ii) give information on the spatial and temporal distribution of key pests and (iii) assess the effect of temperature, insecticide applications, and host crop abundance on their incidence. Atotal of 116 cabbage fields were monitored for insect pests and related damage over four crop cycles, from October 2012 to May 2014, in the main vegetable producing area of Senegal (Niayes). The diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.) was by far the most important pest present in all the fields and with high levels of incidence (37.1% infested plants), particularly in the latter part of the dry season in the South of Niayes (50% infested plants). The cabbage webworm Hellula undalis (F.) was mainly observed in the early dry season in the south of Niayes, with an incidence of up to 12.5% infested plants. More surprising was the detection of the tomato fruit worm Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), with damage of up to 9.4% of cabbage heads. The incidence of sucking pests such as whiteflies Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), or aphids (including Lipaphis pseudobrassicae (Davis, 1914), Myzus persicae (Sulzer) or Brevicoryne brassicae (L.)) was generally low. The incidence of P. xylostella increased significantly with the number of insecticide applications, indicating that control deployed by growers was ineffective. The incidence of H. undalis did not depend on the number of insecticide applications, but significantly increased with host crop abundance and decreased with temperature. This study is a first step towards developing alternative pest management strategies in the framework of sustainable vegetable production systems.