Abstract
The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is a widespread devastating pest reported to develop on economically important solanaceous plants. The characterization of its effective host range could help to understand and prevent the dispersion behavior of the insect in the environment. In this study, the ability of T. absoluta to locate and develop on wild (Solanum nigrum, Atropa belladonna, Datura stramonium) and cultivated (Solanum tuberosum) solanaceous plant species under laboratory conditions was assessed. Dual-choice behavioral assays performed in flying tunnels (S. tuberosum vs. another plant) revealed that adult distribution and female oviposition did not differ between Solanum species, which were preferred to the other tested plants. The volatile molecules released by each tested plant species provide some explanations in the observed behavioral discrimination: S. nigrum and S. tuberosum volatile profiles were similar and were presenting quantitative and qualitative differences with the other tested solanaceous plants. To determine whether the host plant choice was adaptive or not, we have finally conducted fitness assays, by rearing T. absoluta larvae on each plant species and have shown that Solanum species allowed higher larval survivability and lower development time (from egg to adult emergency) compared to the other plants. We conclude that Solanum species are suitable host plants for T. absoluta, but other solanaceous plant species could be opportunistically colonized with fewer incidences.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams RP (2007) Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Allured Publishing Corporation, Illinois
Agosta SJ (2006) On ecological fitting, plant-insect associations, herbivore host shifts, and host plant selection. Oikos 114:556–565
Arab A, Alves MN, Sartoratto A, Ogasawara DC, Trigo JR (2012) Methyl jasmonate increases the tropane alkaloid scopolamine and reduces natural herbivory in Brugmansia suaveolens: is scopolamine responsible for plant resistance? Neotrop Entomol. doi:10.1007/s13744-011-0001-0
Awmack CS, Leather SR (2002) Host plant quality and fecundity in herbivorous insects. Annu Rev Entomol 47:817–844
Ayabe Y, Minoura T, Hijii N (2014) Plasticity in resource use by the leafminer moth Phyllocnistis sp. in response to variations in host plant resources over space and time. J For Res. doi:10.1007/s10310-014-0467-9
Boggs CL (1992) Resource allocation: exploring connections between foraging and life history. Funct Ecol 6:508–518
Caparros Megido R, Brostaux Y, Haubruge E, Verheggen FJ (2013) Propensity of the Tomato Leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), to develop on four potato plant varieties. Am J Potato Res 90:255–260
Caparros Megido R, De Backer L, Ettaïb R, Brostaux Y, Fauconnier M-L, Delaplace P, Lognay G, Belkadhi MS, Haubruge E, Francis F, Verheggen FJ (2014) Role of larval host plant experience and solanaceous plant volatile emissions in Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) host finding behavior. Arthropod Plant Interact 8:293–304
Castillo G, Cruz LL, Tapia-Lopez R, Olmedo-Vicente E, Carmona D, Anaya-Lang AL, Fornoni J, Andraca-Gomez G, Valverde PL, Nunez-Farfan J (2014) Selection mosaic exerted by specialist and generalist herbivores on chemical and physical defense of Datura stramonium. PLoS One 9:e102478. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102478
ChemSpider (2014) http://www.chemspider.com. Accessed 1 Dec 2014
Coelho MCF, França FH (1987) Biologia e quetotaxia da larva e descrição da pupa e adulto da traça do tomateiro. Pesqui Agropecu Bras 22:129–135
Crawford KM, Land JM, Rudgers JA (2010) Fungal endophytes of native grasses decrease insect herbivore preference and performance. Oecologia 164:431–444
Desneux N, Wajnberg E, Wyckhuys KAG, Burgio G, Arpaia S, Narvaez-Vasquez CA, Gonzalez-Cabrera J, Catalan Ruescas DC, Tabone E, Frandon J, Pizzol J, Poncet C, Cabello T, Urbaneja A (2010) Biological invasion of European tomato crops by Tuta absoluta: ecology, geographic expansion and prospects for biological control. J Pest Sci 83:197–215
Desneux N, Luna MG, Guillemaud T, Urbaneja A (2011) The invasive South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, continues to spread in Afro-Eurasia and beyond: the new threat to tomato world production. J Pest Sci 84:403–408
EPPO/OEPP (2014) EPPO A1 and A2 list of pests recommended for regulation as quarantine pests. http://www.eppo.int/QUARANTINE/listA2.htm. Accessed 1 Dec 2014
Facknath S, Wright DJ (2007) Is host selection in leafminer adults influenced by pre-imaginal or early adult experience? J Appl Entomol 131:505–512
Faria CA, Torres JB, Fernandes AMV, Farias AMI (2008) Parasitism of Tuta absoluta in tomato plants by Trichogramma pretiosum Riley in response to host density and plant structures. Cienc Rural 38:1504–1509
Ferraz EO, Bertolucci SKV, Pinto JEBP, Braga AF, Costa AG (2014) Organic systems in the growth and essential-oil production of the yarrow. Rev Ciênc Agron 45:111–119
Flavornet (2014) http://www.flavornet.org/flavornet.html. Accessed 1 Dec 2014
Gbolade AA, Dzamic AM, Ristic MS, Marin PD (2009) Erratum: essential oil composition of centratherum punctatum from Nigeria (Chem Nat Compd (2009) 45:118–119). Chem Nat Compd 45:296
Greenberg SM, Sappington TW, Sétamou M, Liu TX (2002) Beet armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) host plant preferences for oviposition. Environ Entomol 31:142–148
Gurulingappa P, Sword GA, Murdoch G, McGee PA (2010) Colonization of crop plants by fungal entomopathogens and their effects on two insect pests when in planta. Biol Control 55:34–41
Harrewijn P, Minks AK, Mollema C (1995) Evolution of plant volatile production in insect–plant relationships. Chemoecology 5(6):55–73
Hilker M, Meiners T (2011) Plants and insect eggs: how do they affect each other? Phytochemistry 72:1612–1623
Jansen RMC, Hofstee JW, Wildt J, Verstappen FWA, Bouwmeester HJ, Posthumus MA, van Henten EJ (2009) Health monitoring of plants by their emitted volatiles: trichome damage and cell membrane damage are detectable at greenhouse scale. Ann Appl Biol 154:441–452
Krenzelok EP (2010) Aspects of Datura poisoning and treatment. Clin Toxicol 48:104–110
Lambinon J, Delvosalle L, Duvigneaud J (2004) Nouvelle flore de la Belgique, du G.-D. de Luxembourg, du nord de la France et des régions voisines. Edition du Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Meise
Leather SR (1988) Size, reproductive potential and fecundity in insects: things aren’t as simple as they seem. Oikos 51:386–389
Maggio A, Rosselli S, Bruno M, Spadaro V, Raimondo FM, Senatore F (2012) Chemical composition of essential oil from Italian populations of Artemisia alba Turra (Asteraceae). Molecules 17:10232–10241. doi:10.3390/molecules170910232
Moore BD, Andrew RL, Külheim C, Foley WJ (2014) Explaining intraspecific diversity in plant secondary metabolites in an ecological context. N Phytol 201:733–750
Pereyra PC, Sánchez NE (2006) Effect of two solanaceous plants on developmental and population parameters of the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Neotrop Entomol 35:671–676
Pherobase (2014) Database of pheromones and semiochemicals. http://pherobase.com. Accessed 1 Dec 2014
Pomilio AB, Falzoni EM, Vitale AA (2008) Toxic chemical compounds of the Solanaceae. Nat Prod Commun 3:593–628
Proffit M, Birgersson G, Bengtsson M, Reis R Jr, Witzgall P, Lima E (2011) Attraction and oviposition of Tuta absoluta females in response to tomato leaf volatiles. J Chem Ecol 37:565–574
Ramaswamy SB (1988) Host finding by moths: sensory modalities and behaviours. J Insect Physiol 34:235–249
Rossiter MC, Cox-Foster DL, Briggs MA (1993) Initiation of maternal effects in Lymantria dispar: genetic and ecological components of egg provisioning. J Evol Biol 6:577–590
Shonle I, Bergelson J (2000) Evolutionary ecology of the tropane alkaloids of Datura stramonium L. (Solanaceae). Evolution 54:778–788
Suckling DM, Charles JG, Kay MK, Kean JM, Burnip GM, Chhagan A, Noble A, Barrington AM (2014) Host range testing for risk assessment of a sexually dimorphic polyphagous invader, painted apple moth. Agric For Entomol 16:1–13
Tropea Garzia G, Siscaro G, Biondi A, Zappalà L (2012) Tuta absoluta, an exotic invasive pest from South America now in the EPPO region: biology, distribution and damage. EPPO Bull 42:205–210
Woods HA (2010) Water loss and gas exchange by eggs of Manduca sexta: trading off costs and benefits. J Insect Physiol 56:480–487
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Service Public de Wallonie (SPW–DGO3, D31-1298). The authors thank Alain Benko (Biologie végétale, Université de Liège) for plant choice and identification, and Danny Trisman (Chimie générale et organique, Université de Liège) for technical support with GC–MS analyses. Emilie Joie and Maud Fagan (Entomologie fonctionnelle et évolutive, Université de Liège) are acknowledged for their technical support in plant culture and insect rearing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handling Editor: Stanislav Gorb.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bawin, T., Dujeu, D., De Backer, L. et al. Could alternative solanaceous hosts act as refuges for the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta?. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 9, 425–435 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-015-9383-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-015-9383-y