Field Evaluation of Entomopathogenic Nematode, Steinernema thermophilum against Solenopsis Mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Infesting Brinjal Kumar H. Kesava*, Ganguly Sudershan, Ramamurthy V.V.1 Division of Nematology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India 1Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India *Corresponding author; E-mail: kesavakumarh@gmail.com
Online published on 27 November, 2018. Abstract The solenopsis mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis is one of the major pests of cotton and brinjal in India. None of the existing control measures are proved to be effective against this pest. The effectiveness of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema thermophilum was evaluated against this mealybug under field conditions. Brinjal plants were artificially inoculated with ten third instar mealybug nymphs per plant, allowed for establishment and sprayed with S. thermophilum third stage infective juveniles at three concentrations (1000, 2000 and 3000 IJs/ml) along with the adjuvant 0.033% APSA80. For comparison, one insecticide Chlorpyriphos 20% EC and a control without nematodes were included in the study. The results revealed that the mortality increased with increasing concentration of nematode. At 1000 IJs/ml, 25% mortality was 29% in 2000 IJs/ml and 32% in insecticide treatment, while the highest mortality (34%) was achieved with S. thermophilum sprayed at 3000 IJs/ml. Top Keywords Biological control, S. thermophilum, mealybug. Top |