Preplant release of Nesidiocoris tenuis and supplementary tactics for control of Tuta absoluta and Bemisa tabaci in greenhouse tomato

An early release system developed for Nesidiocoris tenuis Reuter (Heteroptera: Miridae) could provide a good control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in tomato. Tuta absoluta and the whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) often appear simultaneously in tomato crops and this might affect control capacity. Therefore, the new approach needs to be tested in a situation with both pests present. In addition, Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner and Trichogramma achaeae Nagaraja & Nagarkatti (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) have been shown to be effective against T. absoluta and could be a supplement to N. tenuis. Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the potential of this approach and its combination with supplementary control agents against T. absoluta. In the first experiment four treatments were compared (T. absoluta, B. tabaci, T. absoluta + N. tenuis, and T. absoluta + B. tabaci + N. tenuis) and N. tenuis was able to control T. absoluta and B. tabaci either alone or together. In the second experiment, five treatments were compared: T. absoluta, T. absoluta + N. tenuis, T. absoluta + N. tenuis + T. achaeae, T. absoluta + N. tenuis + B. thuringiensis, and T. absoluta + N. tenuis + T. achaeae + B. thuringiensis. Nesidiocoris tenuis again proved capable of significantly reducing T. absoluta populations, and the implementation of additional agents did not increase its effectiveness.