Bio-control of Dacus ciliatus Loew, 1862 (Diptera: Tephritidae) on squash crop in two different locations of Sulaymaniyah, by using Lecanicillium lecanii.

Abstract

The current study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium lecanii (1×10⁶) spore per gram to control Dacus ciliatus on summer squash cucurbita pepo in two different stations ( Tanjaro and Tainal ) in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region-Iraq, of two greenhouses during July to November, 2021, Set up a yellow sticky trap on both sides from each greenhouse to determine the time of the appearance of the adult insect, Fungi of the genus L. lecanii are major insect pathogens, which was used with three different concentrations (2.5, 5 and 7.5) g/L, with sterile distilled water as a control treatment, The results of sstatistical analysisshowed that the pathogen L. lecanii is significant effect with high concentration (7.5) g/L. in both stations to mortality a pest or reduce its field losses, These findings indicate that L. lecanii, is safe for the environment and humans and non-target organisms, as well as for the production of a high quality crop.Therefore, beneficial to farmers when applying an integrated program for control of cucurbit fruit fly pests.