The springtail Megalothorax laevis Denis, 1948 is redescribed from a broad sampling in the intertropical zone: Vietnam (including type locality), Ivory Coast, Gabon, Réunion island and French Guiana. Pseudopore-like elements are for the first time reported on the trunk and legs of Megalothorax species. New molecular data for M. laevis (16S rDNA, 28S rDNA d1 and d2 and COI Barcode) are provided. The phylogenetic position of the species within the Megalothorax genus is analysed. Megalothorax laevis belongs to the incertus group but shares similitudes with the minimus group acquired through evolutionary convergences (such as smooth lamellae of the mucro). Those similitudes might have created confusion between M. minimus and M. laevis. While M. minimus used to be regarded cosmopolitan, M. laevis has been overlooked since its original discovery. However, the present sampling led us to believe that M. laevis replace M. minimus as the commonest edaphic Megalothorax species in the intertropical zone. A key to the Megalothorax species with smooth mucro lamellae is provided.

Control methods used to limit field losses caused by Bruchus rufimanus Boheman, 1833 consist of synthetic insecticides that pose health risks to farmers, consumers and the environment. In an attempt to find safer alternatives, we screened essential oils from the leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis collected in the Middle Atlas and Loukkos regions of Morocco in the laboratory as natural fumigants against B. rufimanus. These essential oils were extracted by steam distillation using a Clevenger distiller, characterised chemically by coupled gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and tested at five concentrations (0, 10, 20, 40, 80 µl/l air). The essential oils of R. officinalis mainly comprised oxygenated monoterpenes (Middle Atlas: 79.4%; Loukkos: 48.78%) and terpenes (Middle Atlas: 14.71%; Loukkos: 32.33%). The lethal concentrations (LC50) of Middle Atlas and Loukkos essential oils against male beetles ranged from, respectively, 46.53 to 1.19 µl/l air and 58.85 to 11.57 µl/l air. Similarly, doses of R. officinalis essential oils from Middle Atlas and Loukkos lethal to females, ranged from 44.6 to 2.08 µl/l air and from 53.00 to 5.38 µl/l air, respectively. Additionally, the lethal time (LT50 and LT99) of exposed adults ranged from 1–8 and from 2–13 days for different concentrations of R. officinalis essential oils from Middle Atlas and Loukkos, respectively. With no mortality recorded in the control groups, these findings demonstrate the fumigant potential of these oils against this bruchid under the storage conditions.

Mexican bean weevil, Zabrotes subfasciatus Boheman, is a significant pest of stored beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) that causes considerable loss in the quality and quantity of bean grain in Africa. In the past two to three decades, researchers have attempted to identify botanicals with better insecticidal potential against storage pests. However, there is a lack of information on the potency of botanical combinations, their toxicology, and optimal application rates. This study was conducted to examine the bioefficacy of unitary and binary botanical combinations of Jatropha curcas (L.), Datura stramonium (L.), Chenopodium ambrosioides (L.), Schinus molle (L.), and Azadirachta indica (A. Juss) against Z. subfasciatus at 1% and 2% w/w dosages. The insecticidal activities of the botanicals were measured based on their effect on adult mortality of Z. subfasciatus and progeny reduction, grain weight loss, and weevil perforation index. Among botanical admixtures, binary combinations of C. ambrosioides + D. stramonium, J. curcas + C. ambrosioides, and S. molle + C. ambrosioides were the most potent. They resulted in the highest mortality of Z. subfasciatus, low weevil perforation index or none, and grain weight loss at the most moderate test dosage (1% w/w). Treatment with C. ambrosioides resulted in the highest efficacy when applied individually. We failed to observe any notable difference in toxicity between dosage levels among the binary botanical combinations. However, the effectiveness of unitary formulations improved with the increase in dosage rate. Application of botanicals did not adversely affect bean seed germination. Our study suggests that botanicals in binary mixtures may enhance the potency of constituent components for effective control of Z. subfasciatus.

Attempts have been made in recent years to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides and seek alternative and innovative methods for pest control. We conducted a study on the chemical composition of Eucalyptus occidentalis essential oil and investigated the fumigant, contact and repellent effects against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Col: Tenebrionidae) and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Col: Bostrichidae). The major components were τ-cadinol (17.20), 1,8-cineol (15.5%), α-cadinol (14%) and α-pinene (9.21%). The contact toxicity experiment showed that the oil was more toxic to R. dominica (LD50 value 0.82 μL/cm) than to T. castaneum (LD50 value 0.99 μL/cm) and showed the same fumigant toxicity for both insects according to the 95% confidence limit of LC50. The repellency against T. castaneum was more than for R. dominica and increased from 14 to 75% for R. dominica and 22 to 78% for T. castaneum after 2 h. These results suggest that E. occidentalis essential oil is a potential candidate for use as a natural repellent and insecticide for stored-product insect pests.

The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is one of the most destructive pests of date palm in United Arab Emirates. We conducted field trials in Abu Dhabi from May 2010 to April 2011, to evaluate the effect of weekly stirring of water and dates in the RPW pheromone trap on adults captured in brown and white traps, using a randomized complete block design with four treatments and five replications. Each trap contained: (1) a dispenser of the RPW male aggregation pheromone (Ferrolure™) containing 700 mg of the active ingredient (4-methyl-5-nonanol (90%) + 4-methyl-5-nonanone (10%)) at 95% purity; (2) an ethyl acetate (EA) dispenser (Weevil Magnet™) containing 40 ml of the active ingredient of EA at 98% purity; (3) 350 g of fodder date fruits; and (4) 4 L of water. Mean adults captured in white traps was 22.5 ± 0.50 and 16.8 ± 0.41 adults/trap/month with and without stirring, respectively, while in brown traps the mean was 39.9 ± 1.31 and 28.3 ± 0.51, respectively. The overall mean of adults captured was 31.2 ± 6.21 and 22.6 ± 4.81 adults/trap/month with and without stirring, respectively. The highest number of weevils caught was in the brown traps with stirring, while the lowest was in the white traps without stirring. The results of these trials suggest the use of brown traps containing aggregation pheromone, 350 g of date fruits, EA and water. It is necessary to stir the water with dates in the traps to increase their efficacy.

To develop management strategies for the mango seed weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae), we surveyed infestation levels of the pest in three agroecological zones of Benin and determined the influences of abiotic factors on mango infestation levels and population dynamics in mango orchards at IITA-Benin from 2009 to 2011. We collected immature and mature fruits from the canopy and fallen fruits from under the canopy from three randomly selected trees per cultivar, per orchard. Samples were examined to determine the number of the mango seed weevil eggs to adults during the rainy seasons of three years of the study. Our results show that the highest abundance of both the weevil and its eggs was from March to May of each year. In the first year of sampling, the cultivar Eldon was more infested than the other two cultivars, while during the second and third years, the cultivar Alphonse was most infested. The occurrence of the weevil was almost nil in the hot agroecological zones, while for the mango cultivars of IITA-Benin the percentage of infested fruit increased or decreased according to the studied variables, such as temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity. We found that the period from March to May with low temperatures and high rainfall was favourable to the population increase of mango seed weevils. We discuss possible implications of our findings for the management of the pest.

Biotic factors (including insect pests) constrain field-grown tomato production in Senegal. However, little information is available on the identity and life system of key pests. The objectives of this study were to: (i) update key pest records of field-grown tomato in the central vegetable-producing area along the northern coast of Senegal, known as the Niayes area; (ii) map their spatial and temporal incidence and (iii) understand insecticide use by growers to control the pests. A total of 98 tomato fields distributed in three zones along a north–south transect in the Niayes area were monitored over four crop cycles from 2012 to 2014. As expected, the tomato fruitworm Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was the most destructive pest with an occurrence of 92% in sampled fields (90/98) and up to 38% damaged fruits in one field at the time of sampling. The proportion of damaged fruits did not differ among zones, but was significantly higher in the early dry season compared to the late dry season. The invasive tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) was detected in 53% of sampled fields (52/98), mainly in the south of the Niayes area in the late dry season. Because of their ability to adapt to unstable environment and insecticides, this insect pest assemblage is a new challenge that farmers have to deal with while decreasing their use of broad-spectrum insecticides.

Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an important pest of mango and citrus in Mexico. Here, we report the effect of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin strain MAAP1 on mortality and food consumption in A. ludens adults. Experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions at 26 ± 2 °C, 60 ± 5% RH and 12:12 photoperiod. To assess pathogenicity and sublethal effects, we sprayed flies with 1 × 109 conidia/ml and 1 × 106 conidia/ml solutions, respectively. Food consumption was measured by providing known amounts of food through capillary tubes to caged flies. We found that M. anisopliae was highly virulent to A. ludens, causing 92.3 ± 0.62% mortality at day 13 post-exposure. Interestingly, food consumption reduced by 17% in flies exposed to the fungus. These results support the implementation of M. anisopliae within current strategies used for the integrated pest management of A. ludens.