Toxic and Behavioral Effect of Pesticides on Aphidophagus Predator, Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Eco-friendly natural enemies have received increasing attention in recent years due to their contribution in reducing the use of chemical pesticides. However, the deleterious effects of pesticides on these natural enemies remain to be understood. In the present study, toxic and behavioral effect of eight most commonly used pesticides in different orchards of Kashmir were tested against aphidophagus predator, Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758 under the laboratory conditions. According to IOBC classification, alphamethrin was moderately harmful to the adults of C. septempunctata whereas, other pesticides were slightly harmful under direct exposure of pesticides. However, all the pesticides resulted harmful to the immature stages of C. septempunctata. Under the residual effect of pesticides on adults of C. septempunctata, thiamethoxam and dimethoate caused highest mortality. All the insecticides were observed to be toxic to the grubs of C. septempunctata, whereas, fungicides were moderately harmful to the grubs of C. septempunctata. The present results also showed that alphamethrin altered the behavior of the predator and reduced its predation rate, while as fungicide had minor behavioral effects.