Bug card No. 1357 of 1,500

Tomato leafminer

Tuta absoluta

Eats: Plants MothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The tomato leafminer is a tiny silvery grey moth with black spots on its wings. Its caterpillars dig tunnels inside tomato leaves, stems and fruit. Farmers around the world watch out for it because it can ruin a whole tomato crop.

Lives in

First from South America, now in Europe, Africa and Asia, on tomato farms and in gardens

Length

6 to 7 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in)

Wingspan

1 cm (0.39 in)

Top speed

about 7 km/h (4.3 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless to people. It does not bite or sting, but it is very bad for tomato plants.

What does it eat?

The caterpillars eat tomato plants from the inside. They also eat potatoes, peppers, eggplants and related plants.

Photo of Tomato leafminer — Picture by Marja van der Straten, NVWA Plant Protection Service, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

How wide are its wings?

small enough to sit on your fingernailcould fly across a whole football pitch in 54 secondsmoves 280 times its own body length every second

How big is Tomato leafminer compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

Tomato leafminer about 7 km/h (4.3 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It can have up to 10 generations in one year.

It came from South America and spread across Europe, Africa and Asia in just a few years after 2006.

It is active mostly at night and in the early morning, and hides during the day.

The mother lays tiny yellow eggs under leaves.

you asked

Most asked questions about Tomato leafminer

?Is the tomato leafminer harmful?

Not to people, but its caterpillars can destroy tomato crops.

?What does the tomato leafminer eat?

Its caterpillars tunnel into tomato leaves, stems and fruit, and other plants like potatoes and peppers.

?How big is the tomato leafminer?

Very small. The moth is only 6 to 7 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Tuta absoluta
Named by: Meyrick, 1917
Group: Moths
Family: Gelechiidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Gelechiidae
Lives on: South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia
Also known as: South American tomato pinworm, Tomato pinworm, South American tomato moth

Where the facts come from

Tuta absoluta (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Marja van der Straten, NVWA Plant Protection Service, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.