DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL SOLUBLE GRANULE FORMULATION OF EMAMECTIN BENZOATE FOR CONTROL OF LEPIDOPTEROUS PESTS

Six solid formulations of emamectin benzoate (one wettable powder (WP) blend, one wettable dispersible granule (WG), and four soluble granul es (SG)) were compared with an emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulati on for their residual-effectiveness at controlling tobacco budworm, He liothis virescens (F.), beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), and cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), in three glasshouse tests. Emamectin benzoate was applied to plants at two rates in each trial (8 .4 and 0.084 g ai/ha). Results from the glasshouse studies showed that mast formulations were comparable at controlling all lepidopterous pe sts tested. Four field trials conducted in Florida confirmed that all formulations were comparable in their effectiveness at controlling pop ulations of lepidopterous pests on vegetables, including diamondback m oth, Plutella xylostella (L.), on cabbage, southern armyworm, Spodopte ra eridania. (Cramer), on pepper, and T. ni and S. exigua on celery. T hese studies identified a novel SG formulation of emamectin benzoate t hat was comparable to the EC formulation in its effectiveness at contr olling lepidopterous pests, but superior to the EC in terms of safety to man and the environment. This novel SG formulation is currently bei ng developed for control of lepidopterous pests on a variety of crops.