Curative Control

Plants in pest control

1. Chili
2. Custard apple
3. Eupatorium
4. Horsetail
5. Mammey
6. Neem
7. Papaya
8. Tinospora
9. Tomato
10. Vitex
11. Wormseed

Pathogens

Bacillus thuringiensis

Spray plants thoroughly with BT when larvae are less than 5 mm long. The larvae are not killed instantly. The pests have to ingest BT first. It takes about 2-3 days for the pests to die.

In the hot tropics, it is more effective to spray BT in the late afternoon as there are longer and cooler hours ahead. This enables BT to remain longer on the leaves' surfaces. BT survives better in cooler temperature. Whereas, spraying in the morning provides a shorter and hotter environment. n

Keep BT formulations in cool storage places.

Do not spray BT on wet days.

Some BT products available in the markets include Bactur, DiPel, Forté, Delfin, Novosol Biological Insecticide, Biobit, and Thuricide (Endersby; Ridland, 1997:1999). Regardless of what your choice is, read label and follow instructions carefully before using. Or ask for assistance from your local agriculturist when using BT for the first time.

Physical methods

1. Floating row covers (very fine nylon nets) to protect seedlings from DBM.
2. Pheromone traps