~ 689 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2018; 6(6): 689-693 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2018; 6(6): 689-693 © 2018 JEZS Received: 14-09-2018 Accepted: 19-10-2018 M Gayathri Ph.D Scholor, Dept of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India NC Venkateswarlu Professor and Head, Dept of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural college, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India T Murali Krishn Project coordinator, KVK, Kalyandurg, Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh, India TNVK Prasad Principal Scientist, IFT, RARS, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India Correspondence M Gayathri Ph.D Scholor, Dept of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India Influence of magnesium, calcium, ferrous and zinc nanomaterials on production and multiplication of Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) Samson M Gayathri, NC Venkateswarlu, T MuraliKrishn and TNVK Prasad Abstract Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) Samson is one of the cosmopolitan occurrence primarily infecting Lepidoptera and particularly the economically important, polyphagous noctuid pests. The N. rileyi grown under nano based SMAY media recorded the maximum number of conidia 8.0, 7.3, 7.2 and 6.9 per ml with MgO at 50 ppm, CaO at 20 ppm, ZnO at 20 ppm, FeO 10 ppm, whereas in control it was recorded as 1.5 per ml during the year 2016. Similarly during 2017 also the condial count was 8.6, 8.1, 7.9, 6.6 with MgO 50 ppm, CaO 20 ppm, ZnO 20 ppm and FeO 10 ppm treatments respectively. The inhibited growth with increasing nanoparticles concentration might be due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the disruption or disorganization of cell walls due to interaction of nanoparticles, including interactions with DNA and proteins and accumulation of nanoparticles in the cytoplasm or on the outer membranes. Keywords: nanoparticles, production, multiplication, N. rileyi 1. Introduction Groundnut (Arachis hypogea) is one of the principal oilseed crops grown in India, covering nearly half of the area under oilseeds. Though India ranks first in area under groundnut cultivation (4.72 M ha), the productivity is low (995 kg/ha) as compared other developing countries like China (2600 kg/ha), Argentina (2100 kg/ha) and Indonesia (1550 kg/ha) [1] . In Andhra Pradesh also the productivity is 595 kg/ha in an area of 1013000 ha [2] . The tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (F.), has been reported as one of the major insect pest of groundnut and feed on 112 cultivated food plants all over the world [3] of which 40 are grown in India [4] . The management of S. litura using insecticides has become difficult because of the development of resistance and effect to non-target organisms. Frequent use of these insecticides poses increasing problems for human health and the environment. Biological control of insect pests is one of the most important components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), wherein entomopathogens such as bacteria, viruses and fungi are exploited against insect pests. Vimaladevi et al., in 2005 [5] reported that Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) Samson is one of the cosmopolitan occurrence primarily infecting Lepidoptera and particularly the economically important, polyphagous noctuid pests. Nanoparticles demonstrate unique targeted characteristics with elevated strength, high conductance of electricity and extra chemical reactivity [6] . To enhance the activity of the N. rileyi by adding the growth promoting nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc at nano size the present study was undertaken. 2. Material and Methods 2.1 Preparation of Nan oparticulate Solutions Oxide nanoparticles of Zn, Ca, Mg and Fe weighing 250 mg was added to 500 ml of distilled water (500 ppm) and from this solution different concentrations (100, 50, 20 and 10 ppm) of nanoparticulate solutions were prepared by adding the respective volumes of distilled water. From the prepared nanoparticulate solutions Zn, Fe, Ca and Mg at 10 ppm, 20 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 500 ppm in 1:9 ration (1ml of nanoparticulate solution to 9ml of LBA media) was added to the LBA media before sterilisation to study the catalytic activity of nanomaterials on the Bt. Similarly the nanoparticles of Zn, Fe, Ca & Mg.