Safety of diamide group of insecticides to larval endoparasitoid, Cotesia plutellae (Kurdj.) of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

The safety of diamide group of insecticides were tested against Cotesia plutellae (Kurdj.), a larval endoparasitoid of Plutella xylostella under laboratory conditions. Contact toxicity on pupae and surviving adults revealed that, chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC at 10 g a.i. ha⁻¹, cyantraniprole 10.26 OD at 600 g a.i. ha⁻¹ were harmless with less than 50% mortality, whereas flubendiamide 20 WG at 50 g a.i. ha⁻¹ recorded mortality of 53.33% and were slightly harmful. Flubendiamide, chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniprole were found to be relatively safe to the C. plutellae with respect to parasitisation. Toxicity on C. plutellae adults revealed that flubendiamide 20 WG at 50 g a.i. ha⁻¹, cyantraniprole 10.26 OD at 600 g a.i. ha⁻¹ recorded less than 50% mortality and were harmless, whereas, chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC at 10 g a.i. ha⁻¹ recorded 53.33% mortality and were slightly harmful after 72 h of exposure.