The current method used to control this insect pest is based mainly on the use of organochlorine and organophosphorus
insecticides (Soares and de 1998). There is a need to develop alternative strategies such as biological control because of the negative environmental effects of pesticides. For example, canatoxin-like proteins and peptides derived from Canavalia ensiformis have been tested for control of D. peruvianus. However, adults were not susceptible to diets containing higher concentrations of canatoxin (0.04%) (Stanisc¸uaski et al. 2005). In addition, the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae was tested for biological control of fourth instar D. peruvianus but not for adult insects (Lubeck et al. 2008).