| The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of oil extract of neem, Azadirachta indica, on the watermelon aphid Aphis gossypii and its natural enemy Cycloneda sanguinea. Toxicity bioassays were conducted with the commercial product DalNeem (1,475 g L-1 azadirachtin) at 0.0037 µg a.i. mL-1, 0.0074 µg a.i. mL-1 and 0.0148 µg a.i. mL-1, Malathion at 1 µg a.i. mL-1 and distilled water as a control treatment. The products were sprayed to watermelon leaf discs, and the insects were exposed to the product residues. The instantaneous population growth rate of A. gossypii and the survival of C. sanguinea larvae exposed to the different treatments were calculated. A decrease in the instantaneous population growth rate of A. gossypii with increasing... |
