›› 2007, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (3): 309-312.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Bioactivities of extracts from Acorus gramineus on four stored grain pests

YAO Ying-Juan, YANG Chang-Ju, XUE Dong, HUANG Yan-Zhang   

  1. (The Institute of Urban Pest Control, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, China)
  • Online:2007-03-20 Published:2007-06-20
  • Contact: YANG Chang-Ju

Abstract:

Botanical insecticides are relatively safe and biodegradable, and readily available source of bioinsecticides. In recent years, the studies on new species of plant and on the spectrum of them have been much heated in the world. In this study, four different extracts (ethanol extract, acetone extract, ethyl acetate extract and petroleum ether extract) of Acorus gramineus rhizome were tested for their insecticidal activities against four stored grain pests, Sitophilus zeamais Motschusky, Rhizopertha dominica Fabricius, Cryptolestes pusillus Schoenherr and Oryzaephilus surinamensis L., using repellence method and contact toxicity method. The results showed that all extracts had obviously repellent and contact toxicity on the tested beetles. Sixty hours after the treatment, the repellent levels of the four extracts to the insects were all above grade Ⅲ. The contact mortalities of these four tested insects ranged from 41.11% to 100.00%. The results suggest that A. gramineus extracts can be used to control the main stored grain pests effectively, and offer basis for developing A. gramineus as the plant insecticide to control the stored grain pests.

Key words: Acorus gramineus, extract, Sitophilus zeamais, Rhizopertha dominica, Cryptolestes pusillus, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, repellent toxicity, contact toxicity