The impact of Smicronyx cyaneus Gyll. and Phytomyza orobanchia Kalt. in some phenological parameters of Orobanche ramosa L. in tomato fields

The impact of larvae feeding of of the agromyzid fly (Phytomyza orobanchia Kalt., and curculionid weevil (Smicronyx cyaneus Gyll.), inside shoots and seed capsules of branched broomrape (Orobanche ramosa L.) which infested tomato, in some phenological parameters: shoot length, number capsules/shoot, wet and dry weight of shoot, were determined. The results indicate to the efficacy of larvae feeding in reduction of O. ramosa bio-mass, it caused significant reduction in the values of all studied parameters, of infested branched broomrape plants in comparison to healthy ones, While the mixed infestation of the both insects caused higher reduction in the values of these parameters, with high significant differences in: shoot length, number capsules/ shoot, and wet weight of infested shoot, in comparison with healthy ones. the reduction rate which resulted from mixed infestation reached to 55.5%, 58.8%, 76.7%, 57.2% for shoot length, number capsules/ shoot, wet weight and dry weigh respectively. The results indicate to the potential role of P. orobanchia and S. cyaneus in reduction the density of O. ramosa in tomato fields, at the Syrian coastal region.