Tuta absoluta
species of insect
Tuta absoluta or Phthorimaea absoluta is a species of moth in family Gelechiidae known by the common names South American tomato pinworm, tomato leafminer, tomato pinworm and South American tomato moth. It is well known as a serious pest of tomato crops in Europe, Africa, western Asia and South and Central America, with larvae causing up to 100% loss if not effectively controlled.
Naming history
T. absoluta was originally described in 1917 by Edward Meyrick as Phthorimaea absoluta, based on individuals collected from Huancayo (Peru). Later, the pest was reported as Gnorimoschema absoluta, Scrobipalpula absoluta (Povolný), or Scrobipalpuloides absoluta (Povolný), but was finally described under the genus Tuta as T. absoluta by Povolný in 1994.
Biology
The larva feeds voraciously upon tomato plants, producing large galleries in leaves, burrowing in stalks, and consuming apical buds and green and ripe fruits. It is capable of causing a yield loss of 100%. Prefers 30 °C (86 °F), requires 14 to 34.6 °C (57.2 to 94.3 °F) for full lifecycle. Nonetheless cold tolerance does allow for 50% survival of larvae, pupae, and adults, at 0 °C (32 °F).
Its life-cycle comprises four development stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult; combined, 26–75 days. Adults usually lay yellow eggs on the underside of leaves or stems, and to a lesser extent on fruits.
The public source identifies “Tuta absoluta” as species of insect. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tuta, absoluta and species.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Tuta absoluta”, the useful work is to connect “species of insect” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q46858. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1917 and 1994.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tuta absoluta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.