Persistence of some nicotinoid insecticides against citrus leaf miner, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton infesting rough lemon rootstock plants

Abstract

Amongst the various factors, pests played a significant role in limiting the diversification of citriculture. Out of 823 species of insects and mites on citrus in the world, about 250 species are found in India (Butani, 1), and only 27 species are active in Punjab (Sharma and Arora, 14). Among these species, serpentine leaf miner, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton is the most serious pest, particularly on nursery and young plantation. Hot and dry climatic conditions have been reported to be favourable for the build up of its population (Sharma et al. 13) especially on plants raised in polythene bags. Several conventional and new insecticides (Sharma et al., 17; Kumar and Sharma, 5) have been found effective both on nursery and full grown citrus trees, but only limited information on the efficacy of nicotinoid insecticides is available on the potted nursery plants (Sharma and Dhaliwal, 15). Keeping in view the importance of the pest under nursery conditions, the present studies were planned to elucidate the efficacy of nicotinoid insecticides against citrus leaf miner on rough lemon rootstock plants.