Effect of Botanicals, Fish Oil Rosin Soap and Organic Salt on Eggs of Spiralling Whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus

摘要

The spiraling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell (Homoptera, Aleyrodidae), native of the Caribbean region of Central America (Russell, 1965), is a highly polyphagous pest, which has extensive host range covering 481 plants belonging to 295 generafrom 90 families of vegetables, fruits and ornamental trees (Srinivasa, 2000). A loss of 80% in fruit yield has been recorded in guava attacked by the pest in four continuous months in Taiwan (Wen et al., 1995). Heavy incidences of the whitefly caused yield reductions up to 53% in tapioca (Geetha, 2000). Synthetic chemicals do not adequately control A. dispersus since the nymphs are covered with heavy waxy flocculent materials and waxy threads produced by the insect (Waterhouse and Norris, 1989). Therefore, the present laboratory studies were conducted to test the efficacy of six botanicals, fish oil rosin soap (FORS) and organic salt against the eggs A. dispersus.