Effectiveness of deltamethrin for protecting olives from attack by the beetle Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Scolytidae)

Deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, was tested in both the laboratory and the field, with the aim of controlling the olive bark beetle, Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Bernard), in living olive trees. In the laboratory, bark beetle adults were exposed to olive twigs treated with different concentrations of deltamethrin. Among these concentrations, dosage at 0.05% produced 100% mortality in the scolytids after 13 weeks. This dosage of deltamethrin, applied in the field, protected olive trees from scolytid attack during the whole emergence period.