Evaluation of Comparative Toxicity of Different Insecticides against Fruit Fly, Bactrocera zonata Saunders (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Bacterocera zonata (Saunder) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major pest of fruits causing severe losses to the fruit production and quality in Pakistan. Its management has largely relied upon the indiscriminate and injudicious use of conventional insecticides resulting in problem of insecticide resistance, environmental pollution, fruit contamination and health hazards. The major goal of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bio-insecticide, emamectin benzoate with other conventionally used insecticides against B. zonata. The results revealed the high toxicity of emamectin benzoate with LC50 value of 38.25 followed by trichlorfon, λ-cyhalothrin and imidacloprid with LC50 values of 44.21, 58.98 and 187.81 ppm, after 24 h post treatment, respectively. Based on our experimental results it is concluded that emamectin benzoate is an effective and environmentally safe alternative to the other conventional insecticides used for the management of B. zonata.