Sphenarium purpurascens is an agricultural pest in Central México and insecticides are the actual method of control. By other hand, this specie is the main edible insect in the country. The most amount of this product is capturing in crop areas where this insect is a pest. In order for prove the effect of two control methods (mechanical vs. insecticide) we analyzed egg density and net reproductive rate (R) of the grasshopper population in nine plots: three of them treated with insecticide, three treated with human capture for consumption and the last three were the control plots (without capture neither insecticide). The net reproductive rates were higher in control plots (1.74 to 4.88) that in insecticide and mechanical control plots. Additionally, in general R was similar in mechanical control plots (0.21 to 0.98) than insecticide control (0.38 to 0.77) ones. Egg density values ranged from 2210 m2 to 18,961 m2 in control plots, while in mechanical control plots ranged from 459 m2 to 2540 m2, finally in insecticide control plots egg density ranged from 151 m2 to 2202 m2. These results show that the capture method for the human consumption has similar efficiency as the insecticide method in the S. purpurascens pest control.
Species 1: Orthoptera Pyrgomorphidae Sphenarium purpurascens (grasshopper, chapulín)
Keywords: control pest, mechanic control
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