Determination of lethal doses of gamma radiation for eggs and larvae of Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus 1758) (Lepidoptera Plutellidae) diamondback moth for phytosanitary treatment
Marcio M Araujo1, Amanda A Oliveira3, Valter V Arthur2, Anna Lucia Villavicencio1.
1Industrial Application Center, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, São Paulo, Brazil; 2Radioentomology, CENA - Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Piracicaba, Brazil; 3Biologia Geral e Aplicada, UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, Brazil
Tropical and subtropical countries such as Brazil are the ones that suffer most under the attack of insects, due to the ecological conditions of high temperature and relative humidity. Our work is closely linked to the safety of food during its marketing and storage time.The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella is one of the most serious pests of cultivated Brassicaceae. It is cited as being the first crop insect to become resistant to dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, it is also reported to be the first insect to develop resistance to the bacterial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis. The main objective was determines the lethal doses of gamma radiation for eggs and larvae of Plutella xylostella and establish an appropriate Phytosanitary irradiation treatment against this pest. The doses of gamma radiation used were: 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200Gy. The samples were irradiated in a 60Co source. After irradiation they were in an acclimatized chamber. By the results we can conclude that the lethal doses to eggs and larvae were 50 and 150 Gy. Therefore, the recommended dose for Phytosanitary treatment of eggs and larvae of P. xylostella is 150 Gy.
