Microbial biopesticides affected age-stage life table of the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera – Gelechiidae)

Abstract

Abstract The tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyric), second instar larvae were exposed for 1 day to LC50 of Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) subsp. kurstaki or Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) on treated tomato foliages. Treated larvae had the longest development period while non-treated larvae had the shortest development period. The highest survivorship (l x ) of adults was obtained by the non-treated larvae while the lowest survivorship was obtained by B. thuringiensis-treated larvae. The lowest age-specific fecundity (m x ) of females was obtained by individuals treated as second instar larvae with B. bassiana. The intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) reached its maximum with non-treated individuals while this value decreased to the minimum values with biopesticide-treated individuals. Therefore, development, survival, and reproduction of treated individuals were lower than those of non-treated individuals. The reproduction period and adult longevity were the shortest considering biopesticide-treated individuals. The highest and lowest net reproductive rates (R 0) were recorded for non-treated and treated individuals, respectively. The mean generation time was increased with biopesticide-treated individuals.

Keywords

• Tuta absoluta
• Microbial biopesticides
• Survivorship
• Population parameters
• Life table