Tomato damaged by Tuta absoluta Tuta absoluta’s threat to Solanaceous crops originated from South America before spreading to other parts of the world. The common name for Tuta absoluta is the tomato leaf miner , named so because of the pest’s preference for tomato. This dangerous pest favours tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and sometimes potato (S. tuberosum). Tomato leaf moth has a life cycle of 29 to 38 days depending on the temperature. The pest prefers higher temperatures meaning the higher the temperature, the faster it will reproduce and the more damage it will inflict on the plants. This is not to imply that it is not there during the cold season, in my experience, this is an ever present enemy of progress. Female leaf moths can lay up to 260 eggs for their entire lifetime, a hell lot of eggs right? The life cycle is such that when fertilized eggs are laid, they hatch into Larva (caterpillar form) which transforms into a pupa which later becomes an adult insect (moth).
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