The South America tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, is a serious invasive species in Nigeria. Its impact on crop production is well known, but its distribution in the country is unclear. Entomologists of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi (Kenya) with scientists of National Horticultural Research Institute in Ibadan (Nigeria) have mapped, between March 2017 and July 2018, the distribution of T. absoluta.

The survey was conducted in 528 different locations across 11 states in Nigeria and the results were published online on the 7th of August in the Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection.

"Results showed that the pest is present and established in all 360 sites surveyed in the northern and south-western parts of Nigeria. The implications of these findings are serious as the pest has demonstrated a rapid speed of spread following its arrival in 2015. Furthermore, tomato-dependent livelihoods could be potentially threatened due to the impact of this pest," the entomologists said.