الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract The Egyptian cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a serious destructive widespread pest. Owing to its polyphagy, this species causes economical yield losses on several crops. S. littoralis has been recorded throughout Africa, the Middle East and in Mediterranean basin. Common control strategies for S. littoralis rely on chemical sprays, which are detrimental to entomopathogens, pollinators and other non-target organisms. Moreover, intensive uses of broad-spectrum insecticides have selected high levels of resistance in several leafworm populations. Therefore alternative control techniques need to be evaluated including natural plant compounds viz. essential oils and botanical extracts. It is known that insects, including S. littoralis, may be exposed through airborne pollution or atmospheric deposition and through herbivory on plants that have sequestered heavy metals. Therefore the present study attempts to estimate toxicity indices of these metals in order to explore the impact of metals on the survival of pests attacking plants growing in metal contaminated areas, developmental vitality parameters as well as fitness components of the cotton leaf worms |