INSECTICIDAL POTENTIAL OF PLANT LEAVES IN ANTICARSIA GEMMATALIS (HUBNER, 1857) (LEPIDOPTERA: EREBIDAE)

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of aqueous extracts obtained from the plant species Murraya paniculata, Mikania glomerata, Momordica charantia and Melissa officinalis on the development of Anticarsia gemmatalis. The experiment was carried out under controlled conditions (14 h of photophase, 25 °C and 70% RH). The treatments consisted of an aqueous extract of the leaves of the plants, prepared at a concentration of 10% and incorporated into the artificial diet, still liquid, at a dose of 5%. Portions of the artificial diet of known mass were offered to the caterpillars.  The biological variables evaluated were mass, larval and pupal duration and viability, larval food consumption, amount of excrement produced by the larva, longevity and sex ratio of the adults. None of the plant species tested caused a significant reduction in the variables assessed in the larval stage of the insect, except for the M. glomerata species, which reduced the viability of the caterpillars by 20%. The biological variables, excrement and larval duration, pupal duration and viability, longevity of male and female adults and sex ratio showed no statistical differences between the treatments. The results indicate that M. glomerata, among the plants evaluated in this study, interfered in the development of A. gemmatalis and could be analyzed in higher doses and in terms of chemical composition, as a potential insecticide applied to control the target species.