Tolerance and antibiosis of four tomato varieties to fruit worm Helicoverpa armigera in greenhouse

Tomato fruit worm is one of the most important pests of tomato in Iran which attacks a wide variety of crops and weeds. Differences between species or varieties can use in management of this pest. In this study، antibiosis and tolerance of four varieties «Super Beta»، «Super Luna»، «Super Chief» and «KJN3» were studied against the pest. An experiment was conducted with a couple of plants of each variety allocated as random to «control» and «pest released treatment». In recent treatment، 10 third instar larvae were released in fruiting stage. Total number of fruits and injured fruits، mean weight of a fruit and bunch yield were measured as tolerance criteria، while number of live pupae، development time of larvae and weight of pupae were measured as antibiosis indices. A relative tolerance was observed in Super Chief، but due to low yield in damage absence، it is not recommendable. Fruit weight as well as yield was impacted by infection. Super Luna and Super Beta loosed more weight and acknowledged as relatively susceptible varieties. Yet، they displayed most yields in presence of the pest. Consequently، there was no considerable difference among the varieties in terms of resistance against the pest.