Abstract
The tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is invasive in many agricultural regions. Its larvae feed inside leaf mines and tomato fruits, causing yield losses. Repeated sprays of insecticides disrupt agri-ecosystems. Conducting three open-field tomato experiments, we assessed whether formulations of entomopathogenic nematodes could improve the efficacy of these promising biocontrol agents or whether other nature-based agents such as pyrethrin or spinosad would be the better option(s), as compared to a standard insecticide. Steinernema carpocapsae formulated in an alkyl polyglycoside polymeric surfactant, in canola oil, or mixed in both reduced 37 to 68% of pest larvae within two weeks post-treatment, followed by the botanical pyrethrin (48%). Neither spinosad nor lambda cyhalothrin achieved sufficient control. Increasing the frequency of treatments to every two weeks moderately increased efficacy. Positively, the nematodes can, if properly formulated and applied, still be recovered alive from leaf surfaces up to two hours after spraying, indicating that they have time to enter the leaf mines. A small proportion can even be still extracted alive from the leaf mines one week later. Despite these promising results, further research is needed to improve the efficacy of nature-based management options for use against this pest, with the aim of ultimately reducing reliance on chemical insecticides and minimizing the impact on agri-ecosystems.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Three Steinernema carpocapsae formulations reduced pest larvae by 37 to 68% within two weeks.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- Steinernema carpocapsae formulated in an alkyl polyglycoside polymeric surfactant, in canola oil, or mixed in bothe0
- Interactor
- Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta
.jpg?width=60)
Tuta absolutae2peste0 - Second interactor
- Steinernema carpocapsae
Steinernema carpocapsaee0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- pest larvaee0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 37 to 68%e0
- Qualifier
- within two weeks post-treatmente0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Steinernema carpocapsae formulated in an alkyl polyglycoside polymeric surfactant, in canola oil, or mixed in both reduced 37 to 68% of pest larvae within two weeks post-treatment”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta”
Claim · model-written summary
Pyrethrin reduced pest larvae by 48%.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume2
- Treatment
- botanical pyrethrine0
- Interactor
- Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absolutaTuta absolutae3pest
- Outcome
- pest larvaee1
- Value
- 48%e0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“followed by the botanical pyrethrin (48%)”
e1“reduced 37 to 68% of pest larvae within two weeks post-treatment”
e2“open-field tomato experiments”
e3“tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta”
Claim · model-written summary
Spinosad did not achieve sufficient leaf miner control.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- spinosade0
- Interactor
- Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absolutaTuta absolutae2pest
- Outcome
- sufficient controle0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neither spinosad nor lambda cyhalothrin achieved sufficient control”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta”
Claim · model-written summary
Lambda cyhalothrin did not achieve sufficient leaf miner control.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- lambda cyhalothrine0
- Interactor
- Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absolutaTuta absolutae2pest
- Outcome
- sufficient controle0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neither spinosad nor lambda cyhalothrin achieved sufficient control”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta”
Claim · model-written summary
Treatments every two weeks moderately increased efficacy.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- every two weekse0
- Outcome
- efficacye0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Increasing the frequency of treatments to every two weeks moderately increased efficacy”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Properly formulated and applied nematodes remained alive on tomato leaves up to two hours after spraying.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Interactor
- Steinernema carpocapsae
- Outcome
- recovered alive from leaf surfacese0
- Value
- up to two hourse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the nematodes can, if properly formulated and applied, still be recovered alive from leaf surfaces up to two hours after spraying”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“Steinernema carpocapsae formulated”
Claim · model-written summary
A small proportion of nematodes remained alive in leaf mines one week later.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Interactor
- Steinernema carpocapsae
- Outcome
- extracted alive from the leaf minese0
- Qualifier
- one week latere0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A small proportion can even be still extracted alive from the leaf mines one week later”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“Steinernema carpocapsae formulated”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors call for further research to improve nature-based management against the pest.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Interactor
- Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absolutaTuta absolutae2pest
- Outcome
- improve the efficacy of nature-based management optionse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“further research is needed to improve the efficacy of nature-based management options for use against this pest”
e1“open-field tomato experiments”
e2“tomato leaf miner Phthorimaea (syn. Tuta) absoluta”
The same questions in other papers
Steinernema carpocapsae · Tuta absoluta · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Brassica napus var. napus · Tuta absoluta · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
surfactant · Tuta absoluta · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
botanical · Tuta absoluta · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
20 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- positive
19 papers more in this group
See all 23 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.