No abstract

Numerous cultivated plants are attacked by Spodoptera litura, which also significantly reduces crop yields. In this study, a green strategy was used to assess the toxicological impact of three plant extracts (Eucalyptus globulus, Allium sativum, and Azadirachta indica) against S. litura larvae in their second and third instars. The study resulted that among the tested extracts, neem (A. indica) was found to be the most toxic and efficient extract followed by E. globulus and A. sativum. 29.92, 56.61, and 79.53% mortality of 2nd instar larvae were recorded at 3, 5, and 7 ppm, respectively, while 24.52, 27.66, and 72.42% of 3rd instars. Among the tested extracts, A. sativum was the least toxic extract than others. One of the main causes of large losses in field crops is insect pest damage. According to the study’s findings, A. indica extract has the potential to lessen S. litura damage to crops as a natural substitute for chemical pesticides without harming beneficial species.

Fall armyworm (FAW) is most dangerous pest of maize crops and distributed widely in various countries of the world especially tropical and subtropical regions, resulting threat to food security. The efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana were checked against 2nd instar larvae of FAW under controlled conditions. The results showed that among tested entomopathogenic fungi, B. bassiana was found more toxic than M. anisopliae. B. bassiana caused highest larval mortality than M. anisopliae. In the current study, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae caused 68.89% and 53.85% larval mortality, respectively. M. anisopliae and B. bassiana demonstrated LT50 values of 80.54 h and 83.32 h, respectively. Additionally, the LC50 values for M. anisopliae and B. bassiana were determined to be 1.4×107 and 1.5×107 spores/ml, respectively. Entomopathogenic fungi can give effective control against pest and further studies are needed to check the efficacy against older instars under field and laboratory conditions.

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L., belongs to the family Plutellidae and the order Lepidoptera, which is a destructive pest all over the world and causes great problems in many countries and has great economic importance and its control costs approximately one billion dollars annually. The current experiment was performed on this pest to check the toxicity of Dimethoate, Emamectin, and Lufenuron insecticides on larvae of P. xylostella. The results showed that emamectin was the most toxic insecticide, followed by lufenuron and dimethoate in both laboratory and field conditions. The mortality rate of pests was low in field conditions as compared to laboratory conditions. The mortality percentage increased with the increase in the application time of insecticides. All the treatments were also observed to be significantly superior to the control.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J E Smith) is an emerging polyphagous pest. Its primary food is the corn cob, which suffers significant damage with its larvae skeletonizing or “windowing” the leaves. Only the larval stage is seriously risky and small and large communities as well as researchers have used a variety of control methods A number of low-cost mitigation strategies are available and these strategies include encouraging smallholder farmers to plant crops directly after major rainstorms, using cultural methods, such as intercropping and crop rotation, and avoiding some of the ineffective insecticides. Understanding the function of natural enemies in agricultural systems requires monitoring them in the field. Chelonus insularis, Pristomerus spinator, Cotesia marginiventris, Meteorus laphygmae, Chelonus sonorensis, Orius insidiosus, Chelonus texanus, Archytas marmoratus, Elenomus remus, and Trichogramma spp. are parasitoids of S. frugiperda Metarhizium anisopliae, Erynia radicans, Fusarium solani, Nomuraea rileyi and Beauveria bassiana are the main entomopathogenic fungi. These biocontrol agents should be promoted to manage this pest in a sustainable manner.