In 2002/03 these chemicals were tested for Helicoverpa species control: Abrade® 50% a.i. (Grow Choice Pty. Ltd), Azamax® 1% a.i. (OCP Pty. Ltd.), BASF320 200g a.i. (BASF), Gemstar® (Bayer Cropscience), Prodigy® 240g/L a.i. (Dow Agrosciences), Rimon® 100g/L a.i. (Nurfarm), S1812 50% a.i. (Sumitomo) and Steward® 200 g/L (Dupont). In 2003/04 the same set of insecticides was used with only one change where Gemstar® was dropped and Intrepid® was included. During 2004/05 season Abrade®, Azamax®, BASF320 and Steward® SC were still included plus new formulation such as DPXKN128 EC, Endosulfan®SC and NNI-0001SC.

Helicoverpa Control: Bt toxin gave the best protection against Helicoverpa damage. Both Steward and S1812 significantly reduced large Helicoverpa. During the last season all tested chemicals except Abrade significantly reduced Helicoverpa numbers. Steward controlled both egg and larval stages while all other chemicals controlled only larvae. NNI 0001, Endosulfan SC and DPXKN128 were very effective on very small and small larvae while NNI 0001 and both the SC and EC formulations of endosulfan were most effective against medium and large larvae. The most efficaceous chemical options for Helicoverpa control were Steward, S1812, NNI 0001 followed by moderately efficacious chemicals such as Endosulfan EC, BASF320 Gemstar, DPXKN128 and Azamax while lower efficacy was seen in Rimon and Abrade.

New chemistry insecticides tested against Aphis spp. control were the same for 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05. It includes, Acetamiprid – Intruder® 225g/L a.i. (Dupont), Carbosulfan – ‘new Marshal’ 250 g/L a.i. (Crop Care), Clothianidine – TI-435 16% a.i. (Sumitomo), Imidacloprid – Confidor® 200g/L a.i. (Bayer Cropscience), Pirimicarb – Pirimor® 500g/L a.i. (Syngenta), Pymetrozine – Chess® 500g/L a.i. (Syngenta), Pyriproxifen – Sumilav® 20g/L a.i. (Sumitomo) and Thiamethoxam – Actara® 250g/L a.i. (Syngenta).

Aphid Control: Best control options for aphids were thiamethoxam, carbosulfan (foliar formulation), acetamiprid and pymetrozine which were indiscriminate and also reduced beneficials. Imidacloprid and clothianidine both showed medium capacity to control aphids and beneficials alike while Pyriproxifen and pirimicarb had the least impact on both aphids and beneficials. There is a known resistance to pirimicarb in most aphid strains but the ineffectiveness of pyriproxifen relates to its mode of action, which does not appear to affect aphids. Acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide was one of the best performing insecticides in this season’s trial.

Effects on beneficial insects and non-targets: Abrade promoted some Hemiptera pests and reduced some beneficial Coleoptera. Three chemicals consistently stood out for mirid control: Steward, Rimon and BASF 320. Azamax and Endosulfan SC also significantly reduced this pest. Steward was the overall choice for the reduction of sucking pests including jassids and apple dimpling bugs; however, it was not very effective against thrips and was hard on some beneficials. Both BASF 320 and Intrepid negatively affected wasp numbers while Endosulfan formulations reduced ants. During the 2004/05 season, large numbers of predators were observed in the aphid trials, especially pirate bugs, coccinellids, lacewing, syrphid and chamaemyiid fly larvae. Most of these were negatively affected by the chemicals used.