Hot Water Immersion for Surface Disinfestation of Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)

• Published in: Journal of economic entomology 2005-04, Vol.98 (2), p.284-288
• Main Authors: Hara, Arnold H., Jacobsen, Christopher M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; COMMODITY TREATMENT AND QUARANTINE ENTOMOLOGY; Control; developmental stages; disinfestation; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities; heat tolerance; Hemiptera - physiology; Hot Temperature; hot water immersion; hot water treatment; Immersion; insect control; Insect Control - methods; kinetic models; lethal time; Maconellicoccus hirsutus; Male; mathematical models; mealybug; mortality; Nymph - physiology; Ovum - physiology; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; prediction; Protozoa. Invertebrates; quarantine; Water; water temperature
• ISSN: 0022-0493; 1938-291X; 0022-0493
• DOI: 10.1603/0022-0493-98.2.284

Mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) adults, nymphs, crawlers, and eggs were tested for their susceptibility to hot water immersion at 47, 48, and 49°C. Eggs inside ovisacs were found most tolerant with prolonged survival compared with other stages at all temperatures. Ovisacs required an average of 1.38, 1.46, and 1.62 times longer treatment duration than adults, nymphs, and crawlers, respectively, for 99.9% predicted mortality at 47, 48, and 49°C. Lethal time estimations were calculated from inverse predictions of regressions derived from logit-transformed data as well as those created using a kinetic model. LT 99.9 estimations were 47.0, 21.2, and 11.9 min at 47, 48, and 49°C, respectively, by using regressions with logit transformations. The kinetic model predictions were 43.9, 19.6, and 11.1 min at 47, 48, and 49°C, respectively. During the study no emergence from eggs inside ovisacs was found after treatments of 52, 24, and 14 min at 47, 48, and 49°C, respectively. Results from this study provide efficacious temperature–time treatments.