In order to compare the efficacies of conventional (cholecalciferol and bromadiolone) and new (sodium selenite) rodenticides, applied in the grain bait formulation on the whole-grain of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and triticale (Triticasecale) in alfalfa crops, experiments were conducted at two sites near Belgrade, Serbia, in the spring of 2009, using a standard EPPO method. The presence of rodent populations, their spatial distribution and density indices were evaluated by pretreatment census and rodenticide efficacy by counting active holes, 14 and 28 days after treatment. The average Microtus arvalis numbers of 158/ha and 184/ha were found to cause 7.4% and 9.6% alfalfa green biomass yield decreases, respectively. Twenty-eight days after treatment, the average efficacy of grain bait formulation (on wheat and triticale grains) of sodium selenite and cholecalciferol was 81%, while bromadiolone which had a higher efficiency, 85%, in the control of the common vole in alfalfa crops. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the origin of active substances, bases and associated interactions a.s x based on the efficacy-investigated grain baits did not have a statistically significant impact on the expression efficiency of the tested baits. Triticale grains can be used as carriers of active substances, sodium selenite, cholecalciferol or bromadiolone in preparation baits. Control of M. arvalis with the new rodenticide, sodium selenite, gave efficacy results about equal to that of cholecalciferol and bromadiolone and, therefore, provided a possible alternative rodenticide for vole control in alfalfa

Abstract:The fundamental idea of IPM is to put nature's own regulatory mechanisms to maximum use in order to prevent damage, which is in the best interest of manufacturers, society at large and the environment. However, Haines (2000) assessed stored products IPM still insufficiently developed at the end of the 20th century. Support to IPM development in stored agricultural products is the use of natural compounds to control rodent pests. One of such compounds is cellulose, whose mode of action differs from the modes of other rodenticide active ingredients. As resistance to I and II generation anticoagulant rodenticides has been reported worldwide, we have introduced for the first time anywhere in the world a rodenticide based on Se (0.1% sodium selenite) with a mode of action based on the replacement of SH groups of functional enzymes with S-S groups. We also tested products based on vitamin D3 with a known mechanism of action.The new Se-based products achieved good efficacy against rat (91.10 % and 87.50 %) and mouse (97.60% and 98.40%), and cellulose-based product against mouse (91.66%), compared to products based on vitamin D3 in rat (90.00% and 90.30%) and mouse control (98.60% and 98.2%), bromadiolone in rat (93.80% and 90.7%) and mouse control (92.86% and 91.9%) and brodifacoum in mouse control (97.06%).The products based on Se, vitamine D3 and cellulose have good toxicological and ecological properties and the fact that there have been no known cases of resistance make them recommendable for use against rodents in storage facilities.

SuMMARYDamage caused by the white snail Cernuella virgata (Da Costa, 1778) was for the first time observed in vegetable crops in Serbia during the summers of 2011 and 2012. In this country, serious damage to vegetable crops is usually caused by slugs, while snails do not normally cause any significant harm. Typical xerophilic snail species in the genera Cernuella, Xerolenta and Theba cause damage even more rarely since they are limited to wild flora in uncultivated and ruderal areas, and local outbreaks occur seldom and only in forage leguminous crops. The species C. virgata was for the first time found to cause damage to a number of vegetable crops during long periods of extremely warm and dry weather, including total devastation of a green onion crop.

The paper presents the first data on slug mites Riccardoella (Riccardoella) limacum (Schrank) and R. (Proriccardoella) oudemansi Thor (Acari: Ereynetidae) in Serbia. The two parasitic species were detected on seven species of snails and slugs (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) in Serbia. Riccardoella limacum, which is a specialized snail parasite, was found in Helix pomatia L. and H. lucorum L species of the family Helicidae. Riccardoella oudemansi was found exclusively on slug species: Arion lusitanicus Mabille (Arionidae), Tandonia budapestensis (Hazay) (Milacidae), Limacus flavus (L.), Limax maximus L. and L. cinereoniger Wolf (Limacidae). [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 46008]

SUMMARYPalatability (daily intake) of different rodenticide formulations based on bromadiolone was compared in experiments with house mouse (Mus musculus L.) in agricultural storage facilities, and rodent numbers were assessed at the beginning and end of experiment, as well as rodenticide efficacy. The dynamic of bait intake was monitored for ten days in facilities of the Institute of Animal Husbandry in Zemun and the Agricultural Cooperatives at Starčevo and Omoljica.The experiments complied with the relevant standard method of OEPP/EPPO. Agricultural products were stored either as bulk commodities or in sacs laid on pallete racks in the treated facilities. Baits were laid in boxes on mice routes below palletes holding sacs and on places where significant damage had been observed, at 1-3 m spacing and in 10-20 g portions. Mouse abundance was estimated based on the highest and lowest daily intakes of bait by mice over a period of 10 days, which was divided by the mouse daily feed requirement. The presence of house mouse was also monitored over the next 20 days. The efficacy of test products was computed using Abbott's formula.