Horticultural Studies (HortiS)
(Pages: 106-115)
Effect of Kaolin Combined with Mineral Oil on the Field Control of the Citrus Butterfly Papilio demoleus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
Atefeh Asadnia CHOOBBASTI 1 ,Mohammad Reza DAMAVANDIAN 1 ,Behnam Amiri BESHELI 1
1 Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Crops Sciences Faculty, Plant Protection Department, 48181-68984, Sari, Iran
DOI :
10.16882/HortiS.1823566
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The citrus butterfly (Papilio demoleus Linnaeus) is one of the most destructive
pests of citrus orchards in Iran, particularly in Mazandaran Province. Due to
environmental and ecological concerns associated with chemical insecticides,
alternative and eco-friendly pest control strategies are urgently needed. This
study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of kaolin and mineral oil, individually
and in combination, in comparision with the chemical insecticide abamectin,
for the control of P. demoleus under field conditions. Two separate
experiments were conducted on two-year-old Hashimoto satsuma mandarin
trees. The first experiment tested five treatments in a completely randomized
design (CRD), including mineral oil (1%), kaolin (3% and 6%) + mineral oil
(0.5%), abamectin (0.5%), and an untreated control. The second experiment
evaluated three treatments-kaolin (6%) + mineral oil (0.5%), abamectin
(0.5%), and control-across five tree groups. The results showed that the
combination of 6% kaolin + 0.5% mineral oil was the most effective treatment,
significantly reducing the number of eggs and larvae of P. demoleus while
increasing the number of buds and healthy leaves with compared to the
untreated control. In some cases, this combination performed comparably to,
or even better than, abamectin, particularly in reducing larval density. Across
both experiments, the treatment demonstrated strong pest control
performance attributed to the synergistic effect of the two mineral-based
components. These findings suggest that the combined use of kaolin and
mineral oil provides a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to
conventional chemical insecticides and should be considered as part of
integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for citrus production.
Keywords :
Insecticides Integrated pest management Orchards Pest control Satsuma mandarin