The Aphicidal and Repellent Activities of Oxymatrine, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Nimbecidine and Spinosad against Adults of Oleander Aphids (Aphis nerii Boyer De Fonscolombe) under Laboratory Conditions

Background: The study aimed to determine the effect of biological and chemical control against the oleander insect, Aphis nerii, under laboratory conditions. Methods: The current study was conducted in the Plant Protection Laboratory of Diyala Agriculture, Diyala Province, Baqubah district, Iraq, During May 2023 to evaluate commercial products, which included oxymatrine, spinosad, the bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and nimbecidine, in addition to alphacypermethrin pesticide with three concentrations of 10, 20 and 30% against adults of Oleander aphids, Aphis nerii, the study included two experiments, to evaluate the mortality rate and the second to evaluate the repellency rate under laboratory conditions. Result: The alphacypermethrin pesticide with a concentration of 30% recorded the highest mortality (93.3%) after 24 hours, while the bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens with a concentration of 10% and the oil neem (nimbecidine) with a concentration of 30% recorded the highest mortality (63.3% and 63.3%, respectively), after 48 hours. The oxymatrine 30% and 20% were superior in recording the highest repellency (66.6% and 66.6%) after 5 and 15 minutes, respectivelyand the bacteria 20% recorded the highest repellency (60.0%) after 10 minutes. The results of this study indicate the possibility of replacing chemical pesticides with biological control agents as eco-friendly alternatives.