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Abstract
Major pests of tomatoes in Trinidad include: the pin worm, Keiferia lycopersicella: the army worm, Spodoptera eridania; the fruit worm, Heliothis virescens; leaf miners, Liromyza spp.; fruit piercing bugs, Nezera viridula, and Phthia picta; the mole cricket, Scapteriscus vicinus. Commercial producers have resorted to excessive application of chemical pesticides with consequent increase in leaf miner infestations, serious outbreaks of mites and developing resistances in mole cricket populations. Too frequent use of pesticides is also a deterrent to implementation of classical biological control. Utilization of the relatively specific bacterial insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis, seems encouraging as a pest control strategy for the tomato ecosystem.