Spodoptera litura Fab. (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest and has been shown to be resistant to a wide range of insecticides, which has led to sporadic out breaks of the pest and failure of crops. We were interested to establish if resistance to insecticides is diverse in different populations of S. litura collected from various areas with variable temperatures. We collected S. litura from eight different locations and compare the toxicity of insecticides. Resistance to the pyrethroids ranged from 20-to 11,700-fold compared with the Lab-PK (laboratory susceptible population). The resistance to bifenthrin was the lowest in a population collected from Multan and the highest to esfenvalerate in a population collected from Lodhran. Similarly, very high level of resistance to spinosad, indoxacarb, and methoxyfenozide was observed in all eight populations. In contrast, resistance to organophosphates was significantly lower than the pyrethroids, spinosad, indoxacarb, and methoxyfenozide, while toxicity of emamectin to field populations was similar to the LabPk. The results are discussed in relation to integrated pest management (IPM) for S. litura with special reference to management of field evolved resistance to insecticides.
The Asiatic citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama [Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Psyllidae] is a vector of huanglongbing (citrus greening), a devastating disease of citrus caused by phloem-limited bacteria. Growing guava (Psidium guajava) as an intercrop appears to be a successful means of reducing psyllid numbers within citrus orchards; however, the mechanism by which such a reduction is achieved is unknown. To determine the repellent effect of guava leaf and factors attributed to this activity, responses of adult psyllids to guava leaf and its odor were evaluated in cage tests and Y-tube olfactometer test. The results showed that guava leaf possessed a repellent effect against the adult citrus psyllids. Fewer psyllids were found on citrus leaves in the presence of guava foliage than in its absence. Young and old guava leaf showed equal repellent activity. By covering the guava shoots with net cloth, it was revealed that the repellent effect of guava leaf against adult psyllids on citrus was attributed to the volatile compounds, rather than physical factors. The olfactometer response of adult psyllids to guava leaf odor was dosage-dependent. Between guava odor and control, only 35.00%, 25.00% and 16.25% of the psyllids moved toward guava odor when presented with 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 g of guava shoots, respectively. The olfactometer experiments also showed that both male and female psyllids responded similarly to the guava leaf odor.
Cereals are staple food for many countries and are grown on millions of hectares of land, but much of the harvest is wasted due to losses by pests. To minimize these losses, many pesticides are used which are damaging to the environment and human health. There are debates to get rid of these chemicals but they are still in use at large scale. An alternative control strategy for insect pests in storage houses is the use of botanicals. In this study, four plant essential oils, two plant extracts, two herbicides, and two insecticides were used against Tribolium confusum and the comparison of toxicity was made by calculating LC50 and LT50 values. LC50 values were higher for abamectin (2.09–10.23 mg/L) and cypermethrin (3.41–11.78 mg/L) insecticides followed by neem essential oil (7.39–19.24 mg/L) and citrus extract (10.14–24.50 mg/L). However, LC50 values were maximum in case of jaman plant extract (22.38–176.42 mg/L) followed by two herbicides, Logran (19.66–39.72 mg/L) and Topik (29.09–47.67 mg/L) However, LC50 values were higher for topic herbicide (24.098 ppm) and jaman essential oil (16.383 ppm) after four days of treatment. Abamectin and cypermethrin insecticides, neem essential oil and citrus plant extract also killed adults of T. confusum quicker as compared other essential oils, extracts and herbicides. Results revealed that botanical formulations being environmentally safe could be used instead of highly hazardous pesticides for stored products’ pests. This study also elaborates the non-host toxicity of herbicides commonly applied in our agroecosystem.
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