Mohammad Al-Allan*(1) Adel Almanofi(1) Nouredeen Zaher Hjej(1) Gaidaa Al Ameer(2)
(1). Department of Entomology, Administration of Plant Protection, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.
(2) Department of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Administration of Horticulture Research, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Dr. Mohammad Al Allan. E-Mail: allanmhd@gmail.com).
Received: 09/07/2016 Accepted: 10/10/2016
Abstract
The experiment was carried out in the laboratory conditions at General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Damascus, Syria, in 2013, to test the effect of some plants oils i.e., mustard Sinapis arvensis, Camphor Cinnamomum camphora, Peppermint Mentha varidis, Cinnamon Cinnamomum zeylanicum, clove Syzygium aromaticum, and ginger Zingiber officinale on Pupa vitality of Mediterranean Flour Moth Ephestia kuehniella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Ten 10 virgins of Mediterranean flour moth were placed in a Petri dish, and a piece of cotton wet with 0.1 ml of one of the tested oils, with three replicates. Petri dishes left under laboratory room conditions until the emergence of adult insects, then the rate of dead larvae and the effectiveness of oils used were calculated. The results showed that the mortality rate of virgins was higher when using mustard oil followed by Camphor, Peppermint with no significant differences (p≤0.01) (26.67, 23.33, 20% respectively), while there were no significant differences among each of cinnamon, clove, ginger and control (6.67, 6.67, 3.33, 6.67%, respectively). It was noticed that there were no significant differences between peppermint, cinnamon, clove and control, whereas the differences were significant between mustard and camphor, and cinnamon, clove, ginger and control with the superiority of mustard and camphor oils. In respect of the effectiveness, mustard had the highest value (21.43%), followed by camphor and peppermint, but cinnamon and clove had no effectiveness. Ginger oil had a negative effectiveness, because it enhanced the activity of the pupa. The study recommends to use mustered oil as the best treatment to control the Pupa vitality of Mediterranean Flour Moth.
Key words: Essential oils, Mediterranean flour moth, Syria.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF