Invasion of the South American Tomato Pinworm, Tuta absoluta, in northeastern India: a new challenge and biosecurity concerns

The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechidae), although made its first entry in continental India in 2014, has not been reported occurring in northeastern areas of the country. For the first time, we recorded T. absoluta infestation in tomato plants in the Meghalaya state of India. The identification was confirmed by standard morphological characters and DNA barcoding by amplifying cytochrome oxidase gene (CO-I) of mitochondrial DNA. During the survey, mild to severe infestation of T. absoluta has been observed on tomato plants in our experimental farms located at Umiam and neighboring villages in the Meghalaya state. The seasonal incidence of T. absoluta was studied on tomato plants in this newly invaded area. Information on fortuitous bio-control agents of T. absoluta is provided. Moreover, this study provides new knowledge useful for alerting countries that share international borders with northeastern India.