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* Correspondence: hgenc@comu.edu.tr The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an invasive pest in Turkey and was first reported in İzmir in 2009. It is originally from Peru, South America, but it is now reported in many countries, and constitutes a serious problem for tomato production around the world (Duarte et al., 2015; EPPO, 2005). It was recorded in 2006 in Spain and then was rapidly distributed to the Mediterranean region (Urbeneja et al., 2012). It is widely established in many countries, and is currently found in Europe (such as Portugal, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom), Russia, Turkey, Albania, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Libya (Garzia et al., 2012; Cocco et al., 2013). The tomato leafminer is a multivoltine species that is present all-year-round depending on the environmental conditions, especially temperature (Garzia et al., 2012). The tomato leafminer is a serious pest of tomato production in open field and under greenhouse conditions (Lietti et al., 2005). It is an oligophagous pest of Solanaceae and attacks certain nonsolanaceous cultivars. The female usually deposits her eggs on the underside of tomato leaves and stems, and sometimes on fruits. The damage is caused by larvae preferably feeding by mining the tomato leaves, flowers, stems, and fruits. Mature larvae pupate in the soil, decaying plant material, or any sheltered sites. The damage to the leaf mesophyll is caused by expanding mines, which reduce the photosynthesis and yield. Without any control, the damage can reach 100% of the yield production (Desneux et al., 2010). Given the importance of the pest, many studies (Stol et al., 2009) have been conducted to relate its biology (Pereyra and Sanchez, 2006; Doğanlar and Yiğit, 2011; Torres et al., 2011; Öztemiz, 2012), ecology, management (Giustolin et al., 2001; Silva et al., 2011; Dağlı et al., 2012), effects of X-rays (Cagnotti et al., 2012), and reproduction as parthenogenesis (Megido et al., 2012). In some of these studies it is important to have knowledge of T. absoluta pupal characters. The adults can be sexed by examining their genitalia through dissection, but this takes time and requires experience. On the other hand, if the individuals need to be alive for further experiments, that will not be possible. In certain other experiments, virgins are needed. These need to be identified before the adults emerge. Various morphological differences have been reported for determining the sex of lepidopterous pupae (Anton and Garrido, 1996), and, although the morphology is similar, sexual differences are not exactly the same in all studied species. The sexual differences between female and male pupae of Scrobipalpula absoluta have been reported previously by drawing (Coelho and Franca, 1987), now known as T. absoluta. However, the pupa of T. absoluta is tiny, and ventral segmentations are hard to identify in individuals. The practical and visualized external key Abstract: The present study was conducted to determine the crucial characters for sexing individuals of female and male pupae of the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). The experiments were performed on 50 live pupae, which were examined under a stereozoom microscope and photographed. Two small tubercles present on the eighth abdominal segment of female pupae are helpful to distinguish the tomato leafminer from male pupae. The genital opening in females is found between the tubercles and is indicated by a longitudinal suture in the middle of the eighth abdominal segment. The male genital opening is also found on the ninth abdominal segment. Typically, female pupae and adults are heavier and bigger than males. This key information and pictures will be useful for laboratory studies that perform single pair matings, sex ratios, and other biological experiments.

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae):pupal key characters for sexing individuals