Efficacy of copper nanoparticles on larval mortality of Spodoptera litura

The investigation on “Evaluation of Copper Nanoparticles against Spodoptera litura” was conducted at the Department of Entomology, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, during the 2023-24. The study utilized a completely randomized design (CRD) with eight treatments, each treatment was replicated thrice involving each 30 larvae per treatment. The treatments included five different concentrations of CuNPs: 10, 50, 100, 300, and 500 ppm, insecticide chloropyriphos 20 EC, control (acetic acid) and control (distilled water). The results indicated that, CuNPs showed significant efficacy compared to the control treatments, exhibiting larvicidal properties. Larval mortality ranged from 4.44 percent to 74.44 percent when assessed by using the leaf dip method, and 6.67 percent to 68.89 percent with the larval dip method. For comparative study, the synthetic insecticide chloropyrifos 20 EC @ 2 ml/L of water was evaluated. It was observed that chloropyrifos 20 EC @ 2 ml/L recorded highest larval mortality in S. litura. Amongst the CuNPs at concentration of 500 ppm, highest larval mortality in S. litura was recorded by both leaf dip and larval dip method. Result showed that, copper nanoparticles are lethal to Spodoptera litura.