Pest identification
and confirmation—Tomato pinworm
Early instars of pinworm are light colored and appear smooth. They lack the obvious tubercles and bristles
of newly hatched tomato fruitworms. Later instars, the stages most often found in fruit, are usually gray
or yellowish with an irregular band of red or purple across each segment. The slender, brown pupa is usually
enclosed in a loose silk cocoon with adhering soil or plant debris. Adult moths are light gray, peppered
with small black flecks, and can be confused with the potato tuberworm. Don't confuse leaf damage with
mining of leafminers, which is narrow and meandering, with a dark line of feces threaded through it. Leafminers
never fold leaves.
|
Pinworm damage (left) vs. leafminer damage |
Tomato
pinworm
|
Potato
tuberworm |
|
