Relative susceptibility of some tomato cultivars to helicoverpa armigera (hubner)‎ (lepidoptera : noctuidae)‎ infestation in Dara΄a- Syria

الملخص EN

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) is one of the most popular and nutritious vegetable crops in Syria.

Tomatoes are subjected to large number of pests among them the tomato fruit moth, Helicover armiger a, which is the most serious one.

So that the susceptibility of four tomato cultivars (Super red, Alegro, Lemantin and Tala) grown in southern Syria, to the infestation with tomato fruit moth was conducted during 2008-2009 in relation to some morphological characteristic of the plant and the fruits of tomato.

The tomato fruit infestation rate varied significantly among cultivars and it ranged from (47.88 %) on Super red to (21.70 %) on Tala.

Plant height, leaf area, stem diameter, number of leaf hairs per unit (10 mm²) and some fruit characteristics were significantly varied between cultivars and were found to affect the infestation rate of tomato fruit moth, the results from correlation indicated that the plant height, leaf area and number of leaf hairs / unit can increase the infestation with tomato fruit moth, while the stem diameter may decrease the infestation rate.

Concerning the fruit characteristics the results revealed that the fruit diameter may induce higher infestation rate whereas the fruit weight, height and pericarp may decrease this rate.