Effectiveness of deltamethrin for protecting olives from attack by the beetle Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Scolytidae)

Deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, was tested in both the laboratory a nd the field, with the aim of controlling the olive bark beetle. Phloeotrib us scarabaeoides (Bernard), in living olive trees. In the laboratory, bark beetle adults were exposed to olive twigs treated with different concentrat ions of deltamethrin. Among these concentrations, dosage at 0.05% produced 100% mortality in the scolytids after 13 weeks. This dosage of deltamethrin , applied in the field, protected olive trees from scolytid attack during t he whole emergence period.