Selectivity of Mak All Season Horticulture Mineral Oil against Chrysopid, Mallada desjardinsi (Navas) and Coccinellid Predator, Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius)

Abstract

The selectivity of Mak All Season Horticultural Mineral Oil (MAS-HMO) at different doses (0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2.0% , 2.5%) and imidacloprid @ 0.009% was studied against Mallada desjardinsi (Navas) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), important predators of sucking pests of citrus in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, under laboratory conditions during 2009, 2010 and 2011. Of the different doses tested, MAS-HMO @ 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% recorded significantly high mean egg hatchability (100%) of M. desjardinsi whereas imidacloprid @ 0.009 % recorded significantly low mean egg hatchability (67.2%). Mean grub mortality of M. desjardinsi was significantly low (0%) in doses 0.1%, 0.5% and 1.0% MAS-HMO. However, imidacloprid @ 0.009 % recorded significantly high mean grub mortality (52.2%) of M. desjardinsi whereas, adult mortality was nil in all the doses of MAS-HMO tested. MAS-HMO @ 0.1 %, 0.5% and 1.0% was found safe to the grubs of C. sexmaculata as mortality of the treated grubs was nil. Imidacloprid @ 0.009% recorded significantly high mean grub mortality (41.1%) of C. sexmaculata.