"Tomato leafminer", Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is one of the main pests of tomato crop nowadays. Its larvae attack leaves, stems, sprouts, flowers and fruits, causing severe damage to the crop. Reports on damage are quite rare and restricted to counting the attacked fruits and estimating the leaf damage in same papers about chemical control. Thus, this report aimed at quantifying the T. absoluta consumption in three tomato cultivars (Carmem, Santa Clara and Empire). Larvae were bred in three tomato cultivars at the "Laboratório de Entomologia do Departamento de Fitossanidade da Faculdade de Agronomia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul", under controlled conditions (temp. 25±1°C; R.H. 65±10% and photophase of 12h). The damaged area was measured in each one of all instars using a Portable Area Meter (Li-cor Model LI-3000). There were no differences in the leaf mesophyll area consumed among cultivars. The leaf consumption in the fourth instar was significantly higher than in the others, reaching 2,207±0,268 cm² in Santa Clara cultivar, the most consumed one, this value equals 78,9% of the whole consumption during the larval phase.
leafminer; leaf consumption; tomato
