Efficacy of novel phenyl pyrazole insecticide fipronil 80 WG on flea bettle, Scelodonta strigicollis (Motschulsky) in grapes

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of fipronil 80WG against flea beetle, Scelodonta strigicollis damage on grapes cv. Panneer, revealed that application of fipronil 80WG at 40 and 50g a.i.ha-1 reduced the leaf damage by 80.5 & 80.8 and 83.2 & 83.8 per cent, respectively and the drastic reduction in the population of flea beetle was recorded (86.7 & 87.1 and 81.6 & 82.1 per cent) in trial I and II, respectively. These treatments recorded better efficacy compared to conventional insecticide, chlorpyriphos 20EC and dimethoate 30EC and on par with their relative check Regent® 80WG at 40 and 50g a.i.ha-1 in their bio-efficacy. No phytotoxic symptom was recorded in all fipronil 80WG treated plots. The bunch yield of grapes increased to 19.10 and 16.00 per cent over control in the trial I and II, respectively. Fipronil 80WG was found to be safe to natural enemies as compared to the standard check chlorpyriphos 20EC.