Evaluation of biocontrol agents along with pesticide against leopard moth, <italic>Zeuzera multistrigata</italic> moore (lepidoptera: cossidae) in apple.

AbstractLeopard moth <italic>Zeuzera multistrigata</italic> (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is a xylophagous insect whose larval stages are cryptic woodborers in apple and many other horticultural and forestry crops. The present study was carried out to test effectiveness of some biocontrol agents along with most effective pesticide against this pest on apple (cv. Royal Delicious) in Himachal Pradesh, India, for three consecutive years by injecting biocontrol agents/chemicals directly into galleries made by pest larvae. Investigations were conducted to observe the effect of <italic>Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernemma feltiae, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora</italic> and azadirachtin along with a synthetic pesticide chlorpyriphos. The application of chlorpyriphos (0.04%) caused a 100%%larval mortality, whereas among the biocontrol agents <italic>H. bacteriophora</italic> (5000 IJs/gallery) exhibited the highest mortality of 66.7 to 80.0%% during these three years, which was significantly at par with application of azadirachtin (Neem baan) 1500 ppm @ 2 ml/Litre and <italic>S. feltiae</italic> @ 5000 IJs/gallery. The lowest mortality (33.3%) was observed with <italic>B. bassiana</italic> (5 g/Litre) for the first two years and with <italic>M. anisopliae</italic> (5 g/L) in the third year i.e. 40.0%. Application of entomopathogenic nematode H. bacteriophora (5000 IJs/gallery) is proven to be best among all biocontrol agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]