Assessment of two Trichogramma species for the control of Tuta absoluta in North African tomato greenhouses

In this study we compared the efficiency of two Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) species, the indigenous T. euproctidis Girault and the cosmopolitan T. achaeae Nagaraja & Nagarkatti, for the biological control of the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Three release doses (25, 50 and 75 parasitoids/m2 ) for each species were tested in a two-year experiment (growing seasons: 2011/2012 and 2012/2013), in protected tomato cultivations in Egypt. The results show that both Trichogramma species were significantly efficient, especially at higher doses, in keeping down T. absoluta mines during both experimentation years. Although no significant differences were found between the efficiency of the two species, the inclusion into Egyptian integrated and biological T. absoluta management programmes of the autochthonous species, T. euproctidis, might be preferred for its adaptation to Egyptian environmental conditions and for its expected lower non-target effect on the local fauna.