Management of the major piercing sucking pests infesting cucumber under plastic house conditions

Evaluation of botanical insecticides namely Nimbecidine at 0.03% azadirachtin and Bio-Catch (Lecanicillium lecanii spores at 1 × 109) for the control of aphids “Myzus persicae (Sulz.)” and the two-spotted spider mite “Tetranychus urticae Koch” was carried out under plastic house conditions. Their activities against aphids and mites were compared with the recommended pesticide “Aphox” in two plastic houses. The adverse effects of the different control agents used were evaluated on the parasitoids present. The results obtained show that spraying cucumber with Nimbecidine followed by Bio-Catch in alternation for four successive sprays achieved good results in decreasing the number of aphids and mites drastically in comparison with the control plants treated with water. Also, both products can be considered as safe biocontrol agents to the parasitoid present in the plastic house as the calculated adverse effect against mummified aphids varied between 18% (harmless) by using Nimbecidine and 26% (slightly harmf...