Background: Cotton is one of the most important industrial crops in Egypt and worldwide. During its growth stages, cotton is threatened by several pests including aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover) and whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) which lead to deleterious effects on cotton growth, yield, and quality. Due to health and environmental hazards of pesticides, it is important to reduce them by using eco-friendly alternatives. Two field experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of some insecticides including profenofos (Prf), cyhalothrin (Cyh), and imidacloprid (Imd) individually or in combination with salicylic acid (SA) against cotton aphids and whiteflies. Results: All spray treatments had potent and moderated effects against aphids and whiteflies, respectively. The Prf insecticide at 100% of the recommended dose was the most effective one against both pests followed by the Cyh. The insecticidal effect of SA against the tested pests was concentration dependent. The most effective combination treatments were Prf at 75% of recommended dose + SA at a concentration of 1 mM for aphids (reduction % 95.68), and Cyh at 75% of recommended dose + SA (0.5 mM) for whiteflies (reduction of 88.00%). All tested insecticides, individually or in combination with SA, significantly increased total phenolic (TP) content in treated plants compared with control. The maximum increase in TP content was recorded in cotton plants treated with Prf in combination with SA. Conclusions: Salicylic acid enhanced the effectiveness of the used insecticides, and thus, SA could be used to lower the amount of insecticides with increasing insecticidal efficacy.

Tomato plants are the second important vegetable crop grown in Egypt. Insect pests pose a serious threat in vegetable production both in terms of quality and quantity. Order Lepidoptera is one of the larger orders in insects. The cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and the leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) are the most serious lepidopterous insect attaching the tomato crop. Pesticides are the basis for defending against major biological disasters and important for ensuring national food security. Nano materials motivate the toxicity of pesticides. In this study the pesticide Marsa 24% SC (belongs to Methoxyfenozide) used for controlling S. littoralis, while Calazole 2% EC (Emamectin Benzoate) applied on T. absoluta. Each pesticide will apply with and without nano cupper complexe salt (1-(2-bromophenyl)-1λ 4-diazane hexadecyltrimethyl-1λ 4-azane, bromo trichloro cuprate (II). Results indicated that the addition of nano salt increases the mortality percentage for both pests (22.45, 59.22 to 100 %) and decreases the lethal time (10 to 3 days; 13 to 4 days) comparing with pesticides without nano salt.

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