Abstract
Whiteflies cause problems in vegetable production on a global scale. The primary worldwide whitefly pest is Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). Insecticides are commonly used to mitigate the whitefly problem in vegetable crops. In limited-resource crop production, operator-carried spray applicators are commonly used for pesticide treatments. Three single-nozzle operator-carried spray applicators were assessed for their efficacies for whitefly (B. tabaci) control on summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) in Egypt. Each knapsack spray equipment was evaluated with five biorational and conventional insecticides. Counts of whitefly nymphs (first, second, third and fourth instars) on leaf samples were taken on 3, 9, 15 and 21 days after treatments with the insecticides. Nymphal mortality varied about 10% among the three spray equipment treatments. The Economy Micro Ulva sprayer resulted in significantly more nymphal mortality as compared with the Arimitsu sprayer and the CZP-3 sprayer, respectively. All insecticides greatly suppressed the whitefly populations; mean mortality ranged from 73% to 95% for all nymphs combined by day for a given treatment. These results provide pest management practitioners with performance assessment of the three operator-carried pesticide applicators for whitefly management with selected foliar insecticides.
Highlights
Of the over 1500 species of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) worldwide [1], Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) complex and Trialuerodes vaporariorum (Westwood) cause the most problems in crops [1]-[3]
All insecticides resulted in high nymphal mortality, while the rank performance of an insecticide within a spray applicator was similar (Table 2, Figure 1)
The combination of Super Misrona oil with Micronized sulfur resulted in mixed results for nymphal mortality compared with either insecticide alone (Table 2)
Summary
Of the over 1500 species of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) worldwide [1], Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) complex and Trialuerodes vaporariorum (Westwood) cause the most problems in crops [1]-[3]. Between these two whitefly pests, B. tabaci is the most problematic on a global scale in part because of its ability to adapt, its wide host range and its status as a significant vector of many plant viruses. Squash is among the plant species that serve as good hosts for oviposition, development, and population build-up by B. tabaci [7].
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