The Californian Red Scale (CRS) Aonidiella aurantii is one of the dreadful pests of citrus fruits given the amount of damage caused. The use of organophosphorus insecticide (chlorpyrifos-ethyl) is a common practice in chemical control of severe pests. In order to reduce the use of this product, two other coccicides (spirotetramat, pyriproxifene) alone or in combination with white oils were tested against the spring generation of CRS.
The monitoring was carried out each week between November and January on a sample of 50 fruits at a rate of 5 fruits per tree out of a total of 10 trees per treatment with 4 repetitions. Four levels of fruit infestation were observed: non-infested, 1 to 3, 4 to 10 and more than 10 cochineals per fruit. The results of the statistical analysis revealed that among the products tested, chlorpyrifos ethyl at a dose of 150cc / hl, white oil alone and spirotetramate at a dose of 36cc / hl gave good results. At harvest, chlorpyrifos ethyl treatment at the dose of 150cc / hl gave an efficiency equal to that of half-dose chlorpyriphos ethyl (75cc / hl + 1% of white oil), pyriproxyfen at the dose of 75 cc / hl and white oil alone at a dose of 1.5%.
These results are promising insofar as they can be considered in IPM control programs.