Preliminary survey of insect diversity and population abundance during flowering and fruiting season in Mangifera odorata (Kuini) orchard, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia

A preliminary survey of insect population in Kuini (Mangifera odorata) orchard was conducted between February 2016 and May 2016 in MARDI, Sintok, Malaysia. Collection of insects were done using two different methods namely yellow sticky trap (YST) and sweep net. A total of 857 arthropods were collected during flowering season and 1,454 arthropods during fruiting season. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics while mean comparisons were done using t-test. Thysanoptera recorded the highest percentage (31.65%) of total catch during flowering season, while Blattodea and Neuroptera recorded as the lowest with 0.23% respectively. During fruiting season, the highest recorded insect was Diptera (79.92%) while Thysanoptera and Lepidoptera recorded the lowest percentage (0.07%). The Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H’), Simpson Diversity Index (D) and Margalef’s Diversity Index (d) were for insects during flowering season were of 3.01, 0.87 and 12.44 respectively. Conversely, H’, D and d value for insects during fruiting season were 2.61, 0.83 and 7.28 respectively. Results obtained from this study will be used as baseline for future insect pest and biological control related studies

A Review of Entomopathogenic Nematodes as a Biological Control Agent for Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a severe pest of palm trees worldwide. The development and feeding activities of R. ferrugineus larvae inside the trunk damage palm trees. However, the absence of noticeable infestation signs at an early stage contributes to the spread of the attack. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been introduced to control R. ferrugineus infestation by implementing various approaches and techniques. The application of chemical pesticides has shown impressive results. However, biological control should be applied as an alternative solution due to adverse environmental impacts and pest resistance issues. One example is the use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) as biological control agents, which can forage and attack targeted pests without compromising the environment and other nontarget organisms. EPNs and their symbiotic bacteria have a mutualistic interaction that can kill the host within a short period of time. Therefore, this review emphasizes the effectiveness of entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria against R. ferrugineus

Efficacy of selected pesticides and biopesticides against major pest infesting Solanum melongena L.

Terung Telunjuk also known as Terung Kuning (Solanum melongena L.), is an edible fruit belonging to the family Solanaceae, one of the largest families in vegetables. Even though identification of the major pests of S. melongena has been widely done, however information about the management of these pests remains scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of selected biopesticides and insecticides (application type) and spraying time (before and after application) against these insect pests’ population of Terung Telunjuk. Experiments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and eight treatments. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the influence of two independent variable (application type, spraying time) on the number of sucking insects found on Terung Telunjuk. The application treatments were: (T1) garlic oil; (T2) neem oil; (T3) Pest Guard™; (T4) Shelter X™; (T5) wood vinegar; (T6) Confidor™; (T7) Abenz™ and (T8) control (water only), respectively. Result showed that there is significant difference on the application type on number of sucking pest (df=7, F=2.95, p0.05) indicate that the effect of spraying time was not significant. Similarly, the interaction effect between application type and spraying time was also not significant [df=7, = 0.28, p>0.05]. There was no significant different between the spraying time (p>0.05), indicating that there were no differences in the total number of sucking insects before and after spraying. Confidor was found to be the most effective treatment to control sucking pest. Whereas the wood vinegar and neem oil did were between the application treatments toward borer insects, surprisingly, neem oil recorded the lowest number of damage/infected fruits. Information gained from this study may be used as a baseline for future insect pest and biological control related studies on other Solanaceae including the traditional vegetables