Avaliação da eficácia de diferentes doses de terra de diatomáceas sobre o gorgulho do milho Sitophilus zeamais

Abstract

The present work aims to test a non-toxic alternative method to control a major pest found in warehouses, factories and small farms, the Sitophilus zeamais, responsible for major losses in seed storage. With significant destructive capability, both in the adult and larval stage, the adult insect damage to grain healthy and intact, while the larvae feed inside, therefore, is considered a primary pest. In adulthood causes holes in the typical grain, which marks the first sign of infestation. To this end, experiments were performed using 0, 250, 500, 750, 1000 mg / kg of diatomaceous earth with four replicates each containing 25 adults of S. zeamais, which were subjected to contact with 100 g of corn for each share of diatomaceous earth to see the same efficiency in controlling this insect. At a concentration of 250 mg / kg, the diatomaceous earth results showed significant levels of mortality of these insects, and 2 weeks in total mortality was observed, namely the extermination of pests in stored grain. The diatomaceous earth was a non-toxic agent effective in controlling this species at all doses evaluated, their economic and environmental advantages to position themselves as a very important agent to be applied to the grain storage market.