Pest Management Science (2021) 77, 5475-5488

Gui-fen Zhang, Xiao-qing Xian, Yi-bo Zhang, Wan-xue Liu, Hui Liu, Xiao-dong Feng, De-ying Ma, Yu-sheng Wang, You-hua Gao, Rong Zhang, Qing-hong Li, Fang-hao Wan, Wen-jun Fu, Jun Wang, Meng Kuang, Wen-jia Yang, Xi Rao, Ying Gao and Ai-mei Dai (2021)
Outbreak of the South American tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta, in the Chinese mainland: geographic and potential host range expansion
Pest Management Science 77 (12), 5475-5488
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
In 2017 Tuta absoluta was identified as an invasive species in China. Due to its rapid geographic expansion and the severe crop damage it causes, T. absoluta poses a serious threat to China's tomato production industry. To determine its geographic distribution and host range, intensive surveys and routine monitoring were conducted across the Chinese mainland between 2018 and 2019. The population colonization coefficient (PCC; ratio of colonized sites and prefectures) and population occurrence index (POI; ratio of infested host species and PCCs) were calculated.
RESULTS
In northwestern China, T. absoluta populations established in Xinjiang exhibited a medium PCC value (~0.03). In southwestern China, populations in Yunnan and its five neighboring provinces exhibited high (~0.50 in Yunnan and Guizhou), or low (<0.02 in Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, and Chongqing) PCC values. In the Chinese mainland, infestations of four crop plant species (tomato, eggplant, potato, and Chinese lantern) and two wild plant species (black nightshade and Dutch eggplant) were identified; tomatoes were infested in every colonized province. Chinese lantern and Dutch eggplant are potentially novel hosts. Yunnan, Guizhou, and Xinjiang experienced the most serious damage (POI). In southwestern China, observed damage significantly decreased with increased distance from the first discovery site of T. absoluta to the farthest county of an infested province increased.
CONCLUSION
T. absoluta populations are well-established and could potentially spread to other regions of China. The present study helps to inform the establishment of better pest management guidelines and strategies in China and tomato-producing regions worldwide.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Gui-Fen Zhang, Wan-Xue Liu

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phthorimaea absoluta	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	China (south)
	Phthorimaea absoluta	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	China (NW)