Colorado Potato Beetle on Eggplant

Unlike potatoes, where damage is most critical during the budding and flowering periods, the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata infests eggplants throughout the entire growing season. Both beetles and larvae consume leaf surfaces, buds, and flowers; a specific diagnostic feature is the damage to bracts, which negatively impacts yield formation. Initial feeding signs appear as yellow spots that develop into holes, eventually leading to complete defoliation under high pest pressure.

Targeted breeding of eggplant for resistance to this pest is limited by the lack of identified resistance genes. The observed differences between eggplant genotypes in terms of resistance levels are due to a complex of atreptic, inhibitory, and physiological barriers. Plants with high levels of resistance exert an antibiotic effect on the pest, which manifests as a disruption in larval development stages and a decrease in their survival rate.