Influence of Selected Host Plants on the Biology of Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Chrysanthemum, celery, and tomato were evaluated as hosts for Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess). The mean number of feeding punctures and viable eggs per female were: chrysanthemum—1,346, 298; celery—986, 212; and tomato — 353, 39. Mean survival time of females was 14, 12, and 10.0 days on chrysanthemum, celery and tomato, respectively. Only 58% of larvae within tomato survived to form a puparia, which was significantly less than larvae in chrysanthemum and celery. The pattern for oviposition and feeding punctures throughout female life was similar on all hosts; both parameters peaked between days 4 and 8. The ratio of fertility to feeding punctures, calculated per female or per female per day, demonstrated that the order of host plant suitability was chrysanthemum, celery, and tomato. This ratio was equivalent to using viable eggs or feeding punctures as a measure of host plant suitability.