Vidal, E., Dominguez, J., Zarzo, M., Castillo, B., Chueca, P., & Moltó, E. 2003 Modelling the mortality of the California red scale (Aonidiella aurantii Maskell) produced by a mineral oil application in laboratory conditions.. Bulletin OILB/SROP (Sect. Reg. Ouest Palearctique) 26(6): 121.

Notes: [Integrated control in citrus fruit crops. Proceedings of the IOBC/WPRS Working Group, Valencia, Spain, 6-8 November, 2002. Garcia-Marí, F. (Ed.) Publisher: International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants (OIBC/OILB), West Palaearctic Regional Section (WPRS/SROP).] The high cost and the negative environmental impact of synthetic pesticide applications increases the use of less aggressive products, such as mineral oils, whose optimal application conditions in the Mediterranean citrus orchards need to be established. In this research, trials with a Potter Tower were conducted to characterize the deposition of a mineral oil by the measurement of the coverage, the number of impacts per unit area and the distribution of the size of the impacts. The applications were performed at different volumes and pressures. In parallel, the same applications were sprayed over California red scale (A. aurantii) populations grown in the laboratory to model the relationship between the deposition parameters and the mortality of the insect at the different growing stages. The models were obtained by fitting the experimental data to predefined functions and allowed to estimate the coverage, number of impacts per square centimetre and impact size distribution required to achieve 95% mortality.