Females preferred leaf sites for oviposition.

<p>The number of the eggs (mean ± standard error) of <i>Tuta absoluta</i> in the petiole and on the sides of leaves (adaxial and abaxial) in the (A) apical, (B) middle and (C) basal thirds of the plant canopy in the vegetative and reproductive stages. Histograms followed by the same letter have means which do not differ among themselves by Tukey’s test (p <0.05).