Taking into account the high biotic pressure of the tomato mining moth in the agricultural sector and resistance to the classic insecticides used to maintain populations, Italian farmers resorted to the biological method of its destruction.

Several companies specializing in growing table tomatoes in greenhouses have begun a biological control method using a natural antagonist, Trichogramma brassicae.

The trichogram is a parasitic hymenoptera, the females of which lay eggs inside the lepidopteran eggs, and then their larvae feed on the host larva. Trichograms are absolutely harmless and have dimensions of about 0.5 mm.

To combat, a commercial formula called Trichosafe was used, distributed throughout Italy by De Sangosse. Trichosafe consists of a capsule containing about 3800 live Trichogramma eggs that hatch in 7 waves, about 1 time in 4 days.

Tomato Moth

Entrepreneurs of the lower Lazio during the biological control tests conducted on their farms, manually distributed 250 capsules per hectare. No chemical treatments were performed.

This defensive strategy has proven its resilience to the environment and costs to the business; in addition, it was effective: the damage to the tomatoes after using trichograms and bacilli was almost zero.

According to entrepreneurs, with this type of struggle it would be possible to halve the costs of combating a pest; satisfied with the result, they propose using this strategy for next year.