The potato tuber moth (PTM) is an oligophagous pest on solanaceous crops. We tested adult olfactory behavior and larval development on 5 cultivated tomato varieties leaves including Moneymaker, Campari, Ailsa craig, LA3475 and E6203, and one wild species, S. pimpinellifolium. Bioassay on PTM larvae showed highest developmental performances in Ailsa craig, and lowest in LA3475. Tomato leaf hydro-distilled oils of Moneymaker, Campari, Ailsa craig, S. pimpinellifolium and E6203 showed strong attractiveness and LA3475 exhibited repulsiveness for mated adult PTM of both sexes in two-armed bioassay. The hydro-distilled oils of all tomato leaves contain the fatty acid n-hexadecanoic acid as a major compound. We conformed presence of n-hexandecanoic acid (palmitic acid) in the leaves by GC-MS. LA3475 consists of (1-hexyltetraecyl) cyclohexane (10.5%) as the second major compound which was absent in all other tomato varieties. A standard sample palmitic acid was tested against the pest at 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/ml did not show any significant olfactometer effect. On other hand, phytol showed a weak attractiveness (60.7-63.6%) and (57.6-60.5%) for male and female PTM, respectively at 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/ml. Additionally, SEM of these tomato varieties leaves showed they have trichomes with distinct shapes. We are working on HPLC, and GC-MS analysis of specific chemicals in trichomes of these tomato varieties leaves.

The potato tuber moth (PTM) is an oligophagous insect pest on solanaceous crops. Potato tuber is regarded as the main host of PTM but it can also feed, develop and reproduce on other solanaceous crops such as tomato. We tested adult olfactory behavior and larval development on 5 cultivated tomato varieties namely Money maker, Campari, Ailsa craig, LA 3475 (M82) and E-6203, and one wild species, S. pimpinellifolium. Tomato leaf hydro-distilled oils of Money maker, Campari, Ailsa craig, S. pimpinellifolium and E-6203 leaves showed strong attractiveness for mated adult PTM of both sexes (> 70%) in two-armed bioassay. LA 3475 (M82) oil showed repulsive response (83.7% for males and 87.3% for females). GC-MS analysis of the hydro-distilled oils of all tomato leaves contain the fatty acid n-hexadecanoic acid (Palmitic acid) as a major compound with relative percentage as S. pimpinelifollium (32.1%) > E-6203 (26.5%) > money maker (26.1%) > LA-3475 (16.3%) > Campari (15.0%) > Ailsa craig (10.4%). LA 3475 consists of (1-hexyltetraecyl)cyclohexane (10.5%) as the second major compound which was absent in all other tomato varieties. In no choice test, PTM larvae showed highest developmental performances such as number of mines, headcapsule size, pupal weight and survival in Ailsa craig, and lowest in LA 3475. In choice test, similar results were observed. This study indicates the leaf volatile of n-hexadecanoic acid might be responsible for PTM attractiveness and (1-hexyltetraecyl)cyclohexane for repulsiveness. And varieties of tomato leaves could support suitable nutritional contents to PTM, posing pest potential in the future where higher exposure is expected.

The potato tuber moth (PTM) is a cosmopolitan insect pest and hosts various solanaceous crops including tomato. We tested olfactory behavior and larval development of PTM on different varieties of tomato fruit namely, Money maker, Campari, Ailsa craig, LA 3475 (M82) and E-6203, and one wild species, S. pimpinellifolium. We also analyzed essential oil of the tomato fruits through GC/MS. There were significance differences in immature developmental period and head capsule size among the tested varieties. PTM larvae showed highest survival on Ailsa craig (66.0±6.0) and E-6203 (64.0±4.0) and lowest on S. pimpinellifolium (14.0±6.0). The major compounds found in the tomato fruit’s essential oils include n-hexadecanoic acid (14.2%) and 2-octylcyclopropaneoctanal (8.7%) in Money makers; hexadecanoic acid, 2-hydroxy -1-(hydroxymethyl) ethyl ester (13.1%) in Campari; tert-hexadecanethiol (6.8%) and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis (2-ethylhexyl) ester (6.2%) in Ailsa craig; (Z)-13-docosenamide (13.39) in S. pimpinellifolium; Eicosane (4.4%,), (Z)-9 -octadecenamide (4.2%), and n-hexadecanoic acid (4.1%) in E-6208. The larval development result on tomato fruit could support its suitable nutritional contents to PTM, posing pest potential in the future where higher exposure is expected.

Potato tuber moth (PTM) is damaging pest of solanaceous crop invasive to Korea. We showed earlier that it inflicteddamage to tomato. So in this study, we evaluated accessions of Solanum lycopersicum (Money maker, Campari, AilsaCraig, LA3475 and e6203) and a wild variety of S. pimpinellifolium for resistance variability. A day old larvae of PTMwere inoculated to leaves and fruits. The result showed high survivability on leaves of Ailsa Craig (95.6%±4.4 SE) andlow on fruits of S. pimpinellifolium (14.0%±6.0). Leaves of LA3475 and fruits of S. pimpinellifolium were less preferred.Volatile compounds could be the cause. Density of trichomes could also influence PTM activity on leaves. These resultsgive us information on resistance variability which could be utilized if there is a host shift due to climate change.

The potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is a ubiquitous pest on potatoes, tobacco, tomato and othercrops. The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray, is a pest of European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in severalcountries in the world. Propolis is a balm-like substance collected from plants by bees. Its chemical composition variesand depends mainly on the flora in the region in which it is collected as well as the bee species. Hitherto biologicalproperties and the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from propolis of Korean origin are unknown. Inthis study, while searching for an environmentally friendly method to control these pests we evaluated the repellent effectsof essential oil of propolis collected from Bee Lab of Andong National University and found that it possess repellentactivity against both small hive beetle and potato tuber moth. Moreover, a total of 171 constituents of the oil were identifiedof which 6 were major compounds using GC/MS analysis. We also compared the chemical composition of this oil withthose from 2 Ethiopian regions.