Pest status and management strategies of the South American tomato pinworm in the Mediterranean 12 years after its arrival

The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, was reported for the first time in Europe in Spain, during 2006, and soon after in Italy and the whole Mediterranean basin. Afterwards, it spread rapidly throughout Afro-Eurasia and became a major threat to world tomato production, also due to its strong tendency to develop insecticide resistant populations. Application of integrated control strategies, both before and after transplanting, is the only way to manage infestations by this pest. To this aim, many techniques have been tested throughout Mediterranean countries during the last 12 years, and are discussed in the present work. These include primarily the application of: insecticides impregnated nets, dustable sulphur, mating disruption and mass trapping techniques. Biological control has been widely experimented too, especially by means of generalist predators, which are the most promising antagonists of the moth. In particular, the mirid Nesidiocoris tenuis has been largely used in biocontrol programs of T. absoluta, with encouraging results coming from research aimed at reducing economic losses by its zoo-phytophagous habit and repeated feeding on tomato plants.