Tuta absoluta is a notorious pest causing serious economic damages in tomato crops, worldwide. Macrolophus pygmaeus (Mp) and Nesidiocoris tenuis (Nt) are the most important natural enemies of this pest. However, their predation rates have been studied only in Petri dishes when T. absoluta eggs were placed randomly on a tomato leaflet. Our study aimed to compare Mp and Nt efficacy in locating and consuming T. absoluta eggs when offered at three densities (3, 5 and 8 eggs/dish) and four distribution patterns: i) the natural oviposition pattern (the one most frequently) followed by T. absoluta females ovipositing the respective egg number on a leaflet, ii) the linear pattern, by placing the eggs on the central vein, iii) the clumped pattern, placing them in a group and iv) the peripheral, placing them close to the leaflet edge. After 15´, 30´ and 60´ the number of consumed eggs was recorded. Results showed that both predators had similar prey searching efficiency when the eggs were positioned following the natural egg distribution pattern. However, when the eggs had been placed following the clumped pattern (at 3 and 5 egg density), Mp consumed more eggs than Nt 15΄ and 30΄ after their releasing. In addition, Mp consumed more eggs than Nt when placed following the linear egg distribution, 15΄ after predator releasing. Consequently, Mp showed higher adaptability in prey searching than Nt. These results indicate that Mp may be more efficient than Nt to locate and consume T. absoluta eggs when laid following different distribution patterns.

natural enemy, omnivorous, oviposition behaviour, prey, predation, tomato, tomato pinworm