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The black citrus aphid, Toxoptera aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe (Hemiptera: Aphididae), an important pest of citrus species, feeds by sucking sap from plant leaves. It causes some leaf distortion and malformation of growing leaves and shoot tips. In this study, the effects of the botanical insecticide, palizin on T. aurantii and its parasitoid, Aphidius colemani Viereck (Hymenoptera: Brachonidae) were compared with the chemical insecticide, imidacloprid. The compounds were evaluated at maximum recommended field concentrations: palizin 2,000 ppm, imidacloprid 500 ppm, water (as control) on adult aphids. Spraying was done with a 100-l engine Honda sprayer (GX120T1, 160T1, 200T) until run-off. The number of dead aphids was recorded 24, 48 and 72 hours after treatment. According to the results, statistically significant differences were found between treatments (p ≤ 0.05). Twenty-four hours after treatment, imidacloprid was more effective than palizin in reducing the T. aurantii population. Palizin showed high efficiency (95% mortality) 72 hours after treatment. However, at that time, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean mortality percentages of imidacloprid and palizin. This shows that botanical insecticide, palizin can effectively control T. aurantii. Also, palizin caused low mortality (10.86%) on A. colemani while imidacloprid was more toxic (31.1% mortality). The results of the present study indicated that palizin can be used instead of chemical insecticide, imidacloprid in control programs of T. aurantii. |
