Evaluating Effectiveness of Some Inert Dusts and Chemical Pesticides in Tribolium castaneum Coleoptera: Tenebrindae Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Abstract The toxicity of three types of inert dusts was tested by mixing them: kaolinite, silica and zeolite against adults of the red rust beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrindae) using four concentrations: 5, 10, 20, 40 dust/kg wheat seeds, and each concentration had three replicates. The experiment was carried out in an incubator at a constant temperature and relative humidity in the laboratory of the Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah. The readings were taken after (24, 48 and 72) hours of treatment under a probability level of (0.01), with a significant difference. The highest percentage of mortality T.castaneum at a concentration of) 40 (grams within) 72 (hours was 100% compared to) 48 and 24 (at the same concentration, 93.00 and 83.00%, respectively. The germination percentage and root length were also tested using four concentrations as shown above, and the highest germination percentage was %65.17 at the (5) grams concentration, which was a significant difference from the germination percentage of wheat grains of 10, 40, and 20g, which amounted to 58.75, 52.25, and 54.00%, respectively. While the highest percentage for the control treatment at all concentrations was 93%, and the lowest for the silica treatment was 0.00 at a concentration of 40 grams. The highest average root length for the kaolin treatment was 2.50 cm, which differed significantly from the zeolite and silica treatment, amounting to (1.80 and 0.50) cm, respectively. The results of the study also brought to light that different concentrations of the chemical pesticide, Viperidicide, were used against T. castaneum, using three concentrations: 2.5, 5, 7.5 g/emulsion/kg wheat seeds, and each concentration had three replicates. The experiment was carried out on the mortality rate under laboratory conditions in the laboratory of the Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah. The readings were taken after (24, 48 and 72) hours of treatment under a probability level of (0.01), and with a significant difference, the highest percentage of mortality of T. castaneum at the concentration of 7.5 cm within (72) hours was 100% compared to (48 and 24) at the same concentration of 63.00 and 90.00% respectively. Besides, the root length was tested using three concentrations as shown. above. The highest average root length of Viperidicide pesticide was 2.03 cm at a concentration of 7.5 cm, compared to the lowest at a concentration of 5 and 2.5 cm, 1.86 and 1.50 cm for each, respectively. The germination rate was 100%.