author(s)
Mohammed Abul Monjur Khan

abstract
The papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a serious insect pest causing severe damage to papaya plants. To find out suitable biorational insecticides for this insect, several experiments were conducted in the laboratory with different groups of insecticides such as carbamates- Carbaryl, growth regulators- Buprofezin, microbial derivatives- Spinosad, and Neem oil. Efficacy trial revealed that Carbaryl and Buprofezin caused significant mortality of papaya mealybug, while the mortality was 100% and 96%, respectively. Treatment with Neem oil (2%) provided moderate control of papaya mealybug, while 60% mortality was achieved. The Spinosad was found less effective against papaya mealybug which caused 40% mortality. Due to complete death of mealybug in Carbaryl treated plants, no progeny was found. The number of mealybug progeny was significantly low in Buprofezin and neem oil treated plants, while the nymph number per plant was 22 and 39, respectively. In contrast, mealybug progeny in the Spinosad treated plants was similar to that of control plants. The potentiality of buprofezin to integrate in the IPM program against papaya mealybug is discussed.