Suitability of Foliage of Tomatoes and Three Weed Hosts for Oviposition and Development of Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Ovipositional preference, fecundity, and development of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were studied under laboratory conditions on tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Walter; American black nightshade, Solanum americanum Mill.; common beggartick, Bidens alba (L.) DC.; and downy groundcherry, Physalis pubescens L. Tomato-reared L. trifolii were studied on all four hosts, and nightshade- and beggar-tick-reared L. trifolii were studied on tomatoes. L. trifolii reared from tomatoes and beggar-tick preferred tomatoes and nightshade for oviposition, whereas females reared from nightshade preferred nightshade. Fecundity of females reared from tomatoes was significantly greater on foliage of tomatoes and nightshade than on foliage of beggar-tick and groundcherry. L. trifolii reared from nightshade were more fecund on tomato foliage than females reared from beggar-tick. Larval and pupal development times in tomato foliage were similar regardless of the origin of the females. Development for larvae that hatched from eggs laid by tomato-reared females was significantly shorter in foliage of nightshade and tomatoes.