Arthropods Diversity and Incidence Variation Due to Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Aphididae) and Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae) on Leaves of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill (Solanaceae) at Yaounde

Vegetable crops in general and Lycopersicon esculentum in particular are subject to many constraints, among which are suckers. These insect pests usually constitute an important limiting factor for the yield of tomato crops (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). This study was conducted to contribute to the knowledge of arthropods associated with tomato cultivation. It was carried out from March 14 to August 14, 2018 within the campus of the Higher Teacher Training College, urban area of Yaoundé. For this, the number of leaves attacked in the field was evaluated each week according to the phenology and the sampling periods in order to determine the population fluctuation of the pests. The insects were captured, then identified; the diversity of the arthropod fauna associated with L. esculentum has been assessed. The results obtained showed that the diversity of the arthropod fauna associated with tomato is rich and varied. A total of 661 individuals belonging to 08 orders, 24 families and 44 species were inventoried. This community includes insects that are harmful and useful to the plant. On the ordinal level, the Hemiptera presented the highest abundance, with 80.18% of the total population, in this order, the Aphididae family, strongly represented by the species Macrosiphum euphorbiae (48.26%) presented highest abundance followed by that of the Aleyrodidae mainly represented by the species Bemisia tabaci (15.58%). The average number/5 leaves/plant of M. euphorbiae (aphids) and B. tabaci (whiteflies) during the study did not vary according to the phenology of L. esculentum (P>0.05) with values slightly higher during fruiting period for aphids (4.34 ± 0.58 individuals) and pre-flowering period (2.30 ± 0.40 individuals) for whiteflies. Analysis of the attack rate on leaves due to aphids and whiteflies showed that it varies significantly (P<0.05) depending on the sampling periods (with a higher value of 46.99 ± 2.82% attack in the first week of sampling) and depending on the phenology of the plant (with a maximum value of 23.24 ± 1.63% in the pre-flowering period). All this information collected constitutes a first step for the implementation of integrated pest’s management on L. esculentum.