Investigation of the alternative biocides effectiveness that used on agricultural pest of Ricania japonica in the Eastern Black Sea region

In this study, the impacts of alternative biological control agents which can be used against Ricania japonica (Walker,1851), which have become widespread in the Eastern and Central Black Sea region in recent years and which cause damages in agricultural fields, have been investigated comparatively. The study was conducted with nymph and adult samples picked up in July every year from Kemalpaşa and Hopa points in Artvin; Pazar, Çayeli, Derepazarı, İyidere and Central points in Rize, and Of, Araklı and Yomra points in Trabzon between 2013 and 2014. It was discovered that the impact values varied from year to year and region to region. The experiments done with Azadiracthin, Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki showed that impact values were between 40% and 60% in nymph phases. As for the experiments with Spinosad, the impact value was about 30%. It was observed in the experiments with the other two agents (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, Diflubenzuron) that the impact value was too low. In the experiments with the chemical-based insecticide Permethrin, it was found out that the impact value was 100% and that Ricania japonica was over resistant to chemical warfare agent. Consequently, the results showed that the use of other alternative methods and mechanical control can be effective in fight against Ricania japonica despite the effectiveness of biological control agents to some extent. Keywords: Ricania japonica, biological control, Eastern Black Sea, Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, Azadiracthin, Spinosad, Diflubenzuron, Permethrin.