Evaluation of Different Control Methods on the Rust Flour Beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt

2 Plant Protection Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

The presented study aimed to evaluate the different control methods of the rusty flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The experi-ments were conducted to evaluate the effi-ciency of a chemical pesticide (Mala-thion), biopesticide (Tracer 24% SC), plant oil (Lemongrass oil), plant extraction (Ac-etone extracts from Rosemary), powder (Diatomaceous earth) and modified At-mosphere (argon gas). Mortality percent-age increased with increase of exposure times at all tested concentrations. The tox-icity effect of different treatments against adults of T. castaneum at the LC50 after 7 days post-treatment at 30±1°C could be ar-ranged in descending order as follows: Malathion, Tracer 24% and lemongrass oil, while, acetone extracts from Rosemary and diatomaceous earth (DE) were the least effective. The LT50 values against the adult stage of T. castaneum were 19.99, 2.33 and 4.86 hr. for Argon 100, 80 and 60%, respectively. In order to avoid the disadvantages of using chemical insecti-cides such as malathion, it is recommended to use other more safe control methods for the environment as Tracer 24% or lemongrass oil or Argon gas.

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