The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) first invaded Africa in 2008. Since then, the pest has been causing considerable losses to tomatoes across the continent, thereby affecting food security and livelihood of millions of growers and consumers. In this paper, the agroecological-based occurrence of the alien invasive species was reported for the first time in Togo. Fifteen sites were surveyed countywide in the five regions of the country from November 2018 to February 2019. Male moths were trapped using pheromone-based delta traps, and the larvae were collected through sampling of infested tomato leaves and fruits. The field-collected and laboratory-emerged specimens were used for the morphological features and molecular analysis and sequence deposit into GenBank under the accession number MN759250. The pest was present in all regions and sites surveyed across different agro-ecological zones, with significant disparities between agroecologies in relation to population densities. The daily as well as the cumulative catches of T. absoluta male moths was higher in the Coastal Savannah zone than in other agro-ecological zones surveyed, with a daily mean value of 10.78 ± 0.99 individuals per trap. This study is the first report confirming the geo-occurrence of T. absoluta in Togo and represents a baseline for further studies.

中文翻译：

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南美番茄蛲虫Tuta absoluta（Meyrick）（鳞翅目：Gelechiidae）在多哥的首次报告和分布

南美番茄蛲虫 Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)（鳞翅目：Gelechiidae）于 2008 年首次入侵非洲。此后，该害虫给整个非洲大陆的番茄造成了相当大的损失，从而影响了数百万种植者和消费者的粮食安全和生计. 本文首次报道了多哥外来入侵物种的农业生态发生情况。2018 年 11 月至 2019 年 2 月，在全国五个地区对全县 15 个地点进行了调查。使用基于信息素的三角洲诱捕器诱捕雄性飞蛾，并通过对受感染的番茄叶子和果实进行采样来收集幼虫。野外采集和实验室出现的标本用于形态学特征和分子分析，并以登录号MN759250序列存入GenBank。该有害生物存在于不同农业生态区调查的所有地区和地点，与人口密度相关的农业生态之间存在显着差异。沿海萨凡纳地区的 T. absoluta 雄性蛾的日捕获量和累积捕获量高于其他调查的农业生态区，每个陷阱的日平均值为 10.78 ± 0.99 只。这项研究是第一份确认 T. absoluta 在多哥地理发生的报告，并代表了进一步研究的基线。沿海萨凡纳地区的 absoluta 雄蛾数量高于其他调查的农业生态区，每个陷阱的日平均值为 10.78 ± 0.99 只。这项研究是第一份确认 T. absoluta 在多哥地理发生的报告，并代表了进一步研究的基线。沿海萨凡纳地区的 absoluta 雄蛾数量高于其他调查的农业生态区，每个陷阱的日平均值为 10.78 ± 0.99 只。这项研究是第一份确认 T. absoluta 在多哥地理发生的报告，并代表了进一步研究的基线。