Susceptibility of different tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L., varieties to infestation with some insect pests in Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L (=Lycopersicon esculentum Miller), is one of the most economically important crops in the world. In Egypt, tomato is infested with different pests causing damages in both quantity and quality of the yields. Six varieties of tomato, ‘Strain B,’ ‘Beto’, ‘El bandora,’ ‘GS,’ ‘Casterlok,’ and ‘Super strain B’, were evaluated for their susceptibility to some insect pest infestations during summer plantation under field conditions. Results According to the infestation with Tuta absoluta, the highly susceptible varieties that received the highest number of eggs were El bandora, followed by Strain B, while Super strain was the lowest. The obtained results indicated that the tomato Super strain B variety had much tolerance to the infestation by T. absoluta. GS variety recorded the highest mean number of eggs deposited by Phthorimaea operculella, but no eggs were observed on the leaves of El bandora and Super strain B varieties. Results also indicated that mean number of Liriomyza trifolii larvae/20 leaflets was the highest in Strain B and GS varieties. Strain B variety recorded the highest mean number of Bemisia tabaci eggs and nymphs/20leaflets than GS, which recorded the lowest value. Casterlok variety had the lowest mean number of Aphis gossypii, while, Super strain B and Strain B recorded the highest values. Conclusions Generally, all the six tested varieties were susceptible to infestation with several insect pests. The most susceptible variety was Strain B, followed by El bandora and GS while the lowest ones were the varieties Beto 86 and Super strain B.