Safety of botanical and microbial pesticide mixtures to Trichogramma chilonis Ishii (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effects of botanical (neem, sweet-flag and pongamia) and microbial pesticide mixtures (HaNPV, Bacillus thuringiensis (=Spicturin) and spinosad) on adult mortality and adult emergence of the egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonis . In contact toxicity test, neem + sweet-flag and neem + sweet-flag + pongamia at 0.12 and 0.18 per cent concentrations registered up to 33.89 per cent mortality of adult parasitoids while the same concentrations had 79.58 to 81.00 per cent adult emergence. Experiments with mixtures of microbial pesticides revealed that spinosad at 75 g a. i./ha and its combination with HaNPV or Spicturin or with both registered cent per cent adult mortality in 24 hours. Also, spinosad or its combinations registered poor adult emergence of this parasitoid, which ranged from 13.08 to 13.83 while HaNPV and Spicturin registered adult emergence of 93.33 and 93.58 per cent. The possibilities of using the botanical mixtures or microbial pesticide mixtures along with this parasitoid are discussed.