The earwig Doru luteipes (Scudder) is one the best natural enemies of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) and Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) both pests of maize (Zea mays). The objective of this work was to evaluate the selectivity of five chemical (deltamethrin, lambdacyhalothrin, permethrin, diflubenzuron and triflumuron) and two microbial [Baculovirus and Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner)] insecticides to the different developmental stages of the predator. Eggs and the four nymphal stages were sprayed using a sprayer connected to a rolling mat. Adults were fed egg masses of S.frugiperda sprayed with insecticides. Eggs of the predator were highly affected by the growth inhibitors diflubenzuron (81.8% mortality) and triflumuron (78.6%), the latter also toxic to the nymphal stages (69.6%). The bioinsecticides Baculovirus and B. thuringiensis were selective to all stages of the predator. The survivorship increased with the increase of the insect's age (S = 39,5 + 7,79 I, R2² = 0,87). Adults were tolerant to all treatments (95.3% survivorship).
Insecta; biological control; earwig; integrated pest management
