Comparison of moth catches in pheromone tarps against tomato pin worm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in open field condition

Abstract

The tomato leafminer (TLM), Tuta absoluta is one of the major devastating insect pest attacking tomato in many of the tomato growing regions causing loss to an extent of 80 to 100 percent. Study conducted on comparison of moth catches to pheromone lures using different types of traps viz. wota trap, sticky trap and delta traps in open field condition from December 2018 to February 2019 in Chikkamagaluru District hill zone of Karnataka. The results showed that, the average number of moth catches were found significantly higher in delta trap (119.08) followed by yellow sticky trap (40.04) and least was in wota trap (6.926). Delta trap with pheromone lure captured 73 percent of moths compared to other two traps with 24 and 4 percent. This is possibly due to its triangular shape and sticky nature. Whereas, yellow sticky traps caught T. absoluta, along with whiteflies, leafhoppers and natural enemies. Wota trap (water pan trap) was the least effective with only 4 percent of total moth catches compared to other traps, possible due to escape.