Indiscriminate and unregulated application of pesticides produces deleterious effect in various groups of organisms including humans and the environment. To solve these issues, it has been reported that the residue-free green nanocomposite synergistically enhances the pesticide efficacy. In this study, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a thiamethoxam nanocomposite were synthesized and we investigated their synergistic effect on 4th instar larvae of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). These larvae were allowed to feed on the composite of ZnO NPs with thiamethoxam (10−90 mg/L) and thiamethoxam-impregnated castor leaves. Observations showed an increased larval mortality (27% increased mortality), a malformation in pupae and adults, overdue emergence, and reduced fecundity and fertility. A significant dose-dependent variation in the biochemical parameters such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in the treated larvae was also observed. A decline of 72.42 and 33.82% in SOD and GST activity ,respectively, was observed at higher concentration as compared to the control. On the contrary, it enhanced the TBARS level up to 56.7%. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by different biophysical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (average crystalline size 34 nm), scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (average particle size 30 nm), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (Zn−O stretching peaks at 432 cm −1 and 503 cm −1 ). The observation of the present study suggests that ZnO NPs pave the way for developing cost-effective, eco-friendly, and capable nanomaterial for its applications in the field of biological sciences.

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New distribution records and host associations of natural enemies of banana insect and mite pests are reported. These include eight parasitoids (two trichogrammatids, two mymarids, two encyrtids, one pteromalid, one scelionid) and twelve predators (one thrips, two staphylinids and nine coccinellids). Two egg parasitoids, Prosoligosita perplexa Hayat & Husain and Epoligosita duliniae Livingstone and Yacoob are reported for the first time from banana tingid, Stephanitis typica (Distant). Prosoligosita perplexa is also recorded for the first time from South India and this is the first host record for this genus. Details of host associations are provided for the other bioagents recorded.

The genus Xiphogramma Nowicki (1940) is recorded for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the description of a new species, Xiphogramma hayati sp. nov. An updated key to the world species of this genus is also provided.

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