Abstract The necessity to ensure the quality of food by simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint due to the extensive use of convectional insecticides has led to an increase in the efforts towards the development of non-chemical control strategies. Silicon dioxide is considered as a promising alternative active ingredient for the control of various arthropods in different crops and products. Silicon dioxide and the relative silicaceous materials (silica) are classified in the category of inert dusts, which act on arthropods through contact leading to desiccation. In our study, we tested three different silica-based dust formulations, Sylobloc® S200, Syloid® ED3 and Syloid® ED5 in order to evaluate their pest control efficacy. As target species, we used, in laboratory bioassays, a field/greenhouse pest the aphid Aphis fabae and the stored-product pests Tribolium confusum and Sitophilus oryzae. These species were exposed to the aforementioned dusts under three different doses (0, 12.5, 25.0 mg/petri) and different time intervals. Taking into account the exposure time of the above species to the inert dusts, S. oryzae adults and T. confusum larvae were more susceptible to ED5 at 25.0 and 12.5 mg, respectively, while A. fabae adults to S200 at the highest tested dose, since less time was needed in order to achieve the highest mortality. Sitophilus oryzae and T. confusum mortality was increased to 90% after the 7th day of post exposure period to all dust formulations, while the highest mortality levels of A. fabae were recorded after 1 day of post exposure to S200. The results of this study show that these silicon dust formulations are effective to greenhouse and storage insect control and can be further exploited through various uses, e.g. in insect-proof nets to minimize the pest invasions in greenhouses.

中文翻译：

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评估不同的惰性粉尘配方以控制米粒线虫、迷信菌和蚜虫

摘要 由于对流杀虫剂的广泛使用，通过同时减少环境足迹来确保食品质量的必要性导致了非化学控制策略发展的努力。二氧化硅被认为是一种很有前途的替代活性成分，可用于控制不同作物和产品中的各种节肢动物。二氧化硅和相关的含硅材料（二氧化硅）属于惰性粉尘类别，它们通过接触作用于节肢动物，导致干燥。在我们的研究中，我们测试了三种不同的基于二氧化硅的粉尘配方，Sylobloc® S200、Syloid® ED3 和 Syloid® ED5，以评估它们的害虫防治功效。作为目标物种，我们在实验室生物测定中使用，田间/温室害虫 Aphis fabae 和贮藏害虫 Tribolium confusum 和 Sitophilus oryzae。这些物种在三种不同剂量（0、12.5、25.0 mg/petri）和不同时间间隔下暴露于上述粉尘。考虑到上述物种在惰性粉尘中的暴露时间，稻瘟病菌成虫和迷惑虫幼虫分别对 25.0 和 12.5 毫克的 ED5 更敏感，而蚕豆成虫在最高测试剂量时对 S200 更敏感，因为达到最高死亡率所需的时间更少。在暴露于所有粉尘制剂后的第 7 天后，米粒线虫和 T.​​ confusum 死亡率增加至 90%，而在暴露于 S200 后 1 天后，记录了蚕豆病菌的最高死亡率水平。