Biological control of the date moth

The polyphagy of the date moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller, its wide distribution in space and on a variety of hosts make it difficult to develop a control strategy capable of limiting the damage caused by this pest, which threatens date production in Algeria.A study of the toxicity ofSpinosad on L5 larvae ofEctomyelois ceratoniae showed that the lowest corrected mortality was observed in a short lethal time (24h), while mortality reached 46.3% in larvae exposed to the biopesticide for a long time (120 h) and treated with the 96 ppm dose. The lowest LD50 was obtained for a lethal time of 120 hours, and the highest for a lethal time of 24 hours.Treatment of date moth larvae with four doses of Spinosad showed that this biopesticide reduced egg fertility, hatching rate, egg incubation time and even the longevity of male and female date moths.