Evaluation of the Efficacy of Several Plant-Based Insecticides and Aqueous Nano-Silica Formulations Against the Rust-Red Flour Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.) Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of plant-based insecticides such as Tandexir and Balizin, hydrophilic nanosilica compounds in addition to biopesticides synergistic with nanocompounds to estimate the effects of rust-red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum the mortality percentage Efficacy was evaluated. The results showed the effectiveness of tundexir insecticide with a statistically significant difference of up to 75% in obtaining higher mortality rate, compared to Balizin which obtained a rate of 63.61%. Furthermore, the results showed that 4 ml liter-1 dose of Tandexir was more effective than Balizin with a statistical difference after 5 days of treatment, resulting in mortality rates of 93.33% and 83.33%, respectively. For both formulations, a dose of 4 ml litre-1 was the most effective in obtaining mortality, and 100% was recorded after 7 days of treatment The results of the efficacy study of the nanosilica formulations showed that the 0.4 g liter-1 dose showed high mortality at 100% after 7 days of treatment, when mortality time was obtained comparing dosages of 0.2 and 0.3 g liter-1 in at the same time 76 .66% and 83.33%. The results showed that using plant-based insecticides at a concentration of 2 ml per liter of water, together with 0.2 grams per liter of a water-friendly nanosilica compound, worked really well together. Tundexir exhibited superior performance in achieving higher mortality rates, reaching 100% after 7 days of treatment, with a mortality rate of 84.16%, compared to Balizin, which achieved a mortality rate of 96.66% at a concentration of 77.50%.