Review of Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) on potatoes in South Africa, with special reference to biological control using entomopathogens and parasitoids

Although agriculture is crucial to economic growth in South Africa, the industry faces several challenges, including the effects of pests and diseases that contribute to crop loss. Such losses severely affect the maintenance of food security. Therefore, a major challenge is finding effective, environmental-friendly control measures for insect pests. Potatoes are among the four most widely consumed vegetable crops worldwide. However, a potato crop can be infested by various pests, like the devastating leaf miner, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). The leaf miner species has, since the early 2000s, become an important pest of various vegetable crops in South Africa. The species is highly invasive, causing up to 70 % damage of solanaceous crops. The damage that is caused by the leaf miner is direct, resulting from the female flies feeding on the leaf mesophyll during oviposition, and the larvae mining the leaves. Indirect damage is induced through pathogens entering through perforations that act as vectors of plant diseases. Biocontrol agents, e.g.  entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), and parasitoids have shown potential against L. huidobrensis. This review investigates the biology and morphological identification of L. huidobrensis, its host range in the Western Cape, and the potential of associated biocontrol agents, like EPNs, EPF and parasitoids, as future control options.