ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Agron.
Sec. Pest Management
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2025.1635654
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Integrated Pest Management: Emerging OpportunitiesView all 3 articles
Campyloneuropsis cincticornis as a potential biological control agent of the South American tomato pinworm Phthorimaea absoluta: predation activity, oviposition and relationship with solanaceous host plants
Provisionally accepted
Sofía A Sola1
Margarita Rocca1*Nadia G. Salas Gervassio1,2*Julieta N Peñalba1Rocío I Montiel Cáceres1
María Gabriela Luna1,3- 1Centro de Estudios Parasitologicos y de Vectores, La Plata, Argentina
- 2Universidad Nacional de San Antonio de Areco, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina
- 3Universidad Nacional de San Antonio de Areco - UNSAdA, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina
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Biological control is a key component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs aimed at meeting yield and environmental goals of agriculture. In the search for effective natural enemies against the globally invasive tomato pest Phthorimaea absoluta, we evaluated the biological traits of the Neotropical mirid Campyloneuropsis cincticornis. Through laboratory bioassays, we assessed: (1) predation rates of different developmental stages of C. cincticornis on P. absoluta eggs and larvae; (2) oviposition behavior on two host plants—Solanum sisymbriifolium (sticky nightshade) and S. lycopersicum (tomato), and (3) development time on both plants. Older nymphs and adult females consumed more P. absoluta eggs and all stages (except first-instar nymphs) were able to feed on larvae, including those concealed inside leaf mines. Oviposition was markedly higher on S. sisymbriifolium, suggesting a strong preference likely shaped by offspring performance. C. cincticornis egg development time did not differ between host plants, whereas nymphal development was significantly faster on S. sisymbriifolium. These findings position C. cincticornis as a promising candidate for both augmentative and conservation biological control of P. absoluta, particularly in systems where native solanaceous vegetation is present.
Keywords: Predation activity, biological control, natural enemy, Tomato, Hemiptera, Miridae
Received: 26 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sola, Rocca, Salas Gervassio, Peñalba, Montiel Cáceres and Luna. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Margarita Rocca, mrocca@cepave.edu.ar
Nadia G. Salas Gervassio, nadiasalas@cepave.edu.ar
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