Effect of smoke treatment of plant Aerva tomentosa  on the mortality of pest Rhizopertha dominica (Fab.)  (Coleoptera: Bostrichiadae)

Amandeep kaur Mann; Meera Srivastava

Volume : III, Issue : VII, July - 2013

Effect of smoke treatment of plant Aerva tomentosa on the mortality of pest Rhizopertha dominica (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichiadae)

Amandeep Kaur Mann, Meera Srivastava

Abstract :

Rhizopertha dominica is major pest of pulses and cereals. Both the adults and grubs cause considerable damage to the grains under storage in tropical and sub–tropical parts including India. The management of stored grain pest has been typically carried out synthetic organic pesticides which resulted in damage to the environment. In the last decade, however there has been an increasing interest in natural products, particularly those of plant origin to control the pest species. In view of this, the smoke of different parts (root, stem, leaf and fruit) of plant Aerva tomentosa was used against the pest R.dominica and adult mortality was recorded after 48 hours of exposure. 20 adult insects were subjected to the smoke of various plant parts in chambers specially faicated for this purpose. It was observed that the smoke treatment of leaf of Aerva tomentosa causes 40 – 50% mortality in Rhizopertha after 48 hours of treatment.