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Simple Summary: This study evaluated the effectiveness of various attractants, including phagostimulants alone or combined with other chemicals, in attracting both male and female Bactrocera zonata in laboratory and field experiments. Different mixtures of natural fruit extracts and synthetic attractants were tested to find the most effective combination for trapping B. zonata. The results indicated that a specific combination (phagostimulant-AdMixture-4) was particularly effective, showing strong attraction capabilities in both laboratory and field settings. These findings were significant and suggested a potential new method for managing fruit fly populations, which are a major cause of fruit damage and economic loss in different fruit orchards. The implementation of such attractant systems could reduce the need for chemical pesticides, offering an eco-friendly and sustainable solution to pest control in different fruit production systems. This advancement holds promise not only for increasing the yield and quality of fruit but also for supporting safer and more sustainable agricultural practices. Laboratory and field assays of three sets of experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of different phagostimulants alone and in combination with other phagostimulant lure sources, such as ammonium acetate, DAP, and acetic acid, on the attractancy of both sexes of B. zonata. In the first experiment, the laboratory olfactometer study revealed that out of eleven phagostimulants, banana, mulberry, mango, guava, molasses, and protein hydrolysate exhibited moderate attractancy (15.2–60.2%) to B. zonata. Unexpectedly, banana and protein hydrolysate were demonstrated to be highly attractive phagostimulants for starved female B. zonata (53.6% and 60.2%, respectively). In the field study, none of the tested phagostimulants exhibited high attractancy; however, banana, mulberry, protein hydrolysate, guava, mango, and molasses demonstrated moderate attractancy (5.6–35.6%) to B. zonata. In the second experiment, out of five phagostimulant-mixtures, phagostimulant-mixture-4 proved highly attractive (40.5–68.6% and 45.5–51.2%), followed by phagostimulant-mixture-3, which proved to be moderately attractive (17.0–22.5% and 28.4–36.1%) to B. zonata in olfactometer and field studies, respectively. In the third experiment, out of five phagostimulant-AdMixtures, phagostimulant-AdMixture-4 demonstrated strong attractiveness in the olfactometer (41.6–68.7%) and field studies (52.7–58.7%) for B. zonata, while the rest of the AdMixtures demonstrated moderate to no attractiveness for B. zonata. So, phagostimulant-AdMixture-4 with GF-120 could be used in the development of a phagostimulant bait station which attracts the maximum B. zonata population and ultimately provides pest-free fruits to the farmers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical management of the peach fly, Bactrocera zonata has been compromised due to adverse effects of pesticide residues that not only contaminate environment but also affect non-target organisms including beneficial insects, birds, aquatic life, and soil microorganisms. They can be impacted through direct exposure or by consuming contaminated prey or plants. The present study was designed keeping in view this increasing demand of the consumers to get pesticide residue free fruit and vegetable produce because it reflects the growing consumer concern for food safety and environmental sustainability, motivating the need for alternative pest management strategies. The field experiment was conducted to determine the best slow-release formulation prepared by mixing the following five different types of waxes, including Candelilla wax (CanW), Paraffin wax (PW), Carnauba wax (CarW), Lanolin wax (LW) and Bees wax (BW) with methyl eugenol (ME) (to attract male B. zonata). The selection of the five different types of waxes was likely based on their biodegradability, availability, and potential for slow-release properties. The result revealed that formulations containing SRF-7[LW], SRF-9[CanW], SRF-8[BW], SRF-9[CarW] and SRF-9[PW] exhibited the maximum capture of 42.10 ± 8.14, 43.30 ± 1.76, 34.30 ± 2.96, 35.30 ± 3.18 and 22.70 ± 3.18 male B. zonata per trap per day, respectively. These effective formulations were further evaluated in experiment in which the comparative trapping efficiency of each wax formulation was assessed. The results demonstrated that formulation containing SRF-9[CanW] was expressed maximum capture 13.77 ± 1.26 male B. zonata per trap per day. These formulations were further evaluated in another experiment in which the trapping efficiency was assessed by four different application methods (simple bottle trap, simple bottle trap with water, yellow sticky trap and jute piece with sticky material). The results demonstrated that formulation containing SRF-9[CarW] applied by yellow sticky trap (YST) trapped 61.74 + 7.69 male B. zonata per trap per day and proved more effective. This formulation can be recommended for trapping and management of male population of B. zonata in fruit orchards. This study can influence eco-friendly B. zonata pest control policies, reducing chemical pesticide usage and promoting agricultural sustainability. Future research should study the long-term impact of slow-release formulations on agricultural sustainability, including pest control, crop yield, and agroecosystem health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insecticides are a quick tool to suppress insect pests and an important element of integrated pest management (IPM). λ cyhalothrin, a pyrethroid, is commonly used to manage economic insect pests in agricultural crops since long. An assay was designed to evaluate the efficacy of λ cyhalothrin on biological parameters of generalist predator, Coccinella septempunctata. Results indicated that λ cyhalothin has no significant impact on developmental life stages of larvae of ladybird beetle but it significantly reduced the span of total adult longevity (30.8 to 26.91 d), female adult longevity (31.5 to 27.79 d), and male adult longevity (29.4 to 25.56 d) as compared to control. Among population parameters, λ cyhalothin had a non-significant impact on adult preoviposition (APOP), total preoviposition period (TPOP), oviposition period, intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase, and mean generation time (T). However, it had significantly reduced the fecundity of females from 294.00 to 262.43 eggs/female and net reproductive rate (R0) (174 to 91.85 d). Our results showed that C. septempunctata had adopted to manage λ cyhalothrin and it could be used in experiments involving C. septempunctata as a natural biocontrol agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is best known as a staple food for half of the world's population. Brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is a serious insect pest of rice crops throughout Asia. In case of a severe attack, the whole crop turns brown called 'hopperburn' and farmers face great yield losses. The experiments were performed to evaluate the planting geometry and nutritional effects on N. lugens abundance and yield attributes of the crop using susceptible rice (var. Basmati 515). Results indicated that planting geometries with more space (60 and 90 cm) after 12 lines with a uniform number of plants in each plot had less incidence of N. lugens as compared to narrow spaced (0 and 30 cm) geometries. More number of N. lugens nymphs (80.0-95.0 number/plant) were recorded with less spaced planting geometry as compared to higher spaced planting geometry (27.0-29.5 numbers/plant) during both years. With different planting geometry, no significant difference was recorded in the agronomic parameters except yield and 1000 grain weight. The highest yield was recorded in a plot with 90 cm path followed by 60, 30 and 0cm path, respectively. Towards different doses of nitrogen and phosphorus on N. lugens, the higher dose of nitrogen had a significant effect on N. lugens nymph survival, adult emergence and survival, while the phosphorus induced a non-significant effect. Therefore, in the absence of N. lugens resistant variety, ecological manipulation and nutrients availability could be a better strategy for shortterm N. lugens management in organic rice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), is one of the most destructive and key pests of rice in Asian countries. Effective insecticides are available to cope with this pest, but this solution is not a long-term strategy because of apprehensions about health and environmental hazards, exposure risks, residual perseverance and development of resistance. So there is a need to find out an alternate practice for the management of this pest. Pest damage may be reduced through the proper management of nutrients requirements and modifications with mineral nutrients such as Silicon (Si). In this experiment, Si amendments, at the rate of 1.25 and 2.50 g Sikg-1 soil were applied under controlled conditions to investigate the resistance impact on developmental stages and food consumption rate of C. medinalis. Results indicated that Si addition at both low and high levels to rice plant significantly extended the larval development and reduced survival rate of both larvae and pupae. Si amendments reduced larval and pupae weight as compared to control treatment. However, the consumption of green matter increased in Si treated plants by 3rd instar larvae of C. medinalis. Results also showed that enhanced Si level in rice plants reduces food quality and increases plant resistance to the C. medinalis in rice variety. This study concluded that Si fertilizers may play an effective role in C. medinalis management for rice crop protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphids are the utmost common and predominant pest of oilseed brassica crops which caused 70-80% of losses in yield. So, a study was conducted to check the comparative incidence and abundance of canola aphids, Brevicoryne brassicae, Lipaphis erysimi and Myzus persicae. Results revealed that the incidence of all aphids appeared on the leaves and the inflorescences in 3rd week of January and 2nd week of February and continued till the harvesting of Faisal Canola variety. The per leaf peak population of L. erysimi, B. brassicae and M. persicae (17.66, 12.59 and 8.49, respectively) and per inflorescence (3.82, 2.93 and 2.19, respectively) was recorded. The highest mean population ranges 60.45-70.90/leaf and 8.24- 8.94/inflorescence were observed from 08-February to 01-March and 08-February to 05- March, respectively. The temperature range of 17.67-23.33°C was suitable for the development of aphids. Predator species, Chrysoperla carnea, Coccinella undecimpunctata, and Coccinella septempunctata were recorded while the population of aphids was adequately established on the canola variety. The population of all predators increased as an increase in the population and decreased as the population of aphids decline. The present study will be helpful to take precautionary measures for the management of canola aphids when reached at economic injury level (5 aphids/leaf) on canola crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrips are serious pests of crops, vegetables and fruiting trees. Various species of thrips infest citrus at fruit formation as well as the new leaves sprouts. Their presence and damage ultimately reduce the export value of fruits, therefore, field studies were carried out to check the biodiversity of citrus thrips on a citrus cultivar fruiter early in experimental and commercial orchards of Faisalabad for pest abundance. Studies were focused on the population of thrips with particular reference to temperature and humidity population, ring spots formation on fruits and thus observe the causes of citrus blemishes in orchards in relation to insect pests. The species collected were identified with the help of available literature. Determining the relationship of citrus blemishes with respect to thrips showed that the temperature and relative humidity have a direct relation to the population of thrips. Results revealed that female and male thrips show significant relation to temperature and humidity on flowers, branches, fruits and leaves. Rainfall was significantly negatively correlated while highly significant in negative correlation on flowers, branches and leaves. Effect of humidity on the population of thrips was found significantly negatively correlated while the temperature was positively correlated with the different life stages of the population of thrips at different plant parts. It was conclusive from the study that the population of thrips was positively correlated with blemishes and ring spot formation of fruiter early. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]