The Striped Mealybug Ferrisia virgata (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)Monitoring and Population Dispersion on Acalypha Shrubs and its Control in Luxor Region, Egypt

Abstract

The present experiment was implemented in the garden of the El-Mattana Agricultural Research Station, Luxor area, Egypt (2021/2022 and 2022/2023) to study the population seasonal and spatial distribution of the mealybug, F. virgata concerning some weather parameters and its control. During each year of the study, F. virgata was discovered on acalypha shrubs from the period on October 1 st to January 15 th , after which the insect infestation disappeared until July 15, and then the insect began to appear again from August 1 st to September 15 th (the end of taking readings for each year). It had two peaks of activity annually, which were observed on November 1 st and September 15 th . Multiple linear regression mathematical model mentioned that the combined effect of all weather parameters, namely maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, sunny shine, and solar radiation, reached 84.21% in 2021/2022 and 83.99% in 2022/2023 on the variation in mealybug numbers. The gathered data were examined by analyzing patterns of distribution, revealing that all dispersal metrics for the different stages of F. virgata displayed a significant tendency towards clustering throughout the two years. After 72 hours of testing the effectiveness of the insecticides, the activities of the studied pesticides varied, as it was found that Imidacloprid was found to be the most effective insecticide than the other tested pesticides for both F. virgata third instar nymphs and adult females. However, the Bioranza pesticide was less effective.