Laboratory evaluation of insecticides and biopesticides against pomegranate aphid Aphis punicae Passerini

Pomegranate aphid Aphis punicae Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is one of the most important pest in pomegranate orchard in India. Under laboratory imidacloprid 17.8 SL(0.00712%), thiamethoxam 25 WG (0.005%), chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (0.0037%), dichlorvas 76% EC (0.076 %), dimethoate 30% EC(0.06%), fipronil 5% SC(0.01%) and bio pesticides azadirachtin 10000 ppm (0.02%), spinosad 45% SC (0.0125%), NSKE 5%, horticultural mineral oil 0.2% (0.2%), Beauveria bassiana (1x109 cfu/g) and Lecanicillium lecanii (1x108 cfu/g) at the recommended concentration was evaluated against of A. punicae at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2016. The study revealed that dichlorvas 76% EC (0.076%), imidacloprid 17.8 SL (0.00712%) and dimethoate 30% EC (0.06%) were effective with the maximum mortality of 96.6, 94.4 and 92.2 per cent at 48 hours after treatment followed by chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (0.0037%) and thiamethoxam 25 WG (0.005%), which recorded mortality of 84.4 and 83.3 per cent at the same period of observation. Among bio pesticides spinosad 45% SC treatment showed maximum mortality of aphids 54.4 and 75.5 per cent at 24 and 48 hours after treatment.