Preliminary evaluation of different insecticides against Philaenus spumarius

The meadow spittlebug Philaenus spumarius is the first ascertained vector of X. fastidiosa in Europe, being responsible for the current Xylella-epidemics in olive orchards in Apulia (southern Italy). Preliminary studies revealed that adults acquire and transmit the bacterium after their migration from the ground vegetation to the olive canopies during the dry season (late springsummer). An effective suppression of the vector populations requires an integrated pest management strategy against nymph and adult stages. Lack of registered and authorized formulations for the control of this insect on olives, prompted for setting up field trials on comparative efficacy of different formulations. We tested the possibility of applying different insecticides, natural or inert substances (extract of citrus oil, kaolin, zeolite) and synthetic products (deltamethrin, buprofenzin, imidacloprid) to suppress the juveniles. Whereas, a total of twelve different formulations based on active compounds belonging to different chemical/ organic families and with different mechanisms of action and translocation were tested for the control of the adults. Neonicotinoids and pyrethroids showed the highest efficacy both for the control of the juvenile stages and the adult populations. The results obtained in our work provide first evidences on the efficacy of different formulations for the control of P. spumarius toward the implementation of containment strategies for X. fastidiosa in olive groves