BIOCHEMICAL RESPONSES OF TWO SUGARCANE VARIETIES TO WHITEFLY NEOMASKELLIA ANDROPOGONIS INFESTATION AND ITS CONTROL BY A NEW BUTENOLIDE INSECTICIDE, FLUPYRADIFURONE

Sugarcane whitefly, Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), is established in the sugarcane ecosystem of Khuzestan Province, and it is one of the most important pests of sugarcane. Two fields of the CP69-1062 and IRC99-02 varieties of sugarcane were selected for evaluation of their biochemical responses, including pigment content, nitrogen, total protein, phosphorus and soluble sugars, to N. andropogonis infestation. Also, the efficiency of a new butenolide insecticide, flupyradifurone , was assessed based on the population density of N. andropogonis. The results indicate that infestation of N. andropogonis reduced the chlorophyll content, nitrogen and total protein of both examined varieties. In addition, flupyradifurone significantly decreased all life stages of N. andropogonis and the population density for 28 days after application the insecticide application. Furthermore, flupyradifurone did not adversely influence parasitic wasps ’ activity in the parasitising nymphal stage of N. andropogonis. Based on our findings, the parasitism percentage reached 55.1% and 63.0% for the control and flupyradifurone-treated plots of IRC99-02, respectively, and 61.9% and 65.7% for the control and flupyradifurone-treated plots of CP69-1062, respectively.