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International Journal of Agricultural Research

Year: 2014 | Volume: 9 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 60-73
DOI: 10.3923/ijar.2014.60.73
Efficacy of Botanical Extracts against Termites, Macrotermes spp., (Isoptera: Termitidae) under Laboratory Conditions
S. Addisu, D. Mohamed and S. Waktole

Abstract: Termite, Macrotermes spp., is economically the most important termite pests which create considerable damage on agricultural crops and domestic materials causing up to 100% loss in Ethiopia. Often, application of chemicals is the most commonly used control measure with harmful effect on the environments and non target organisms. An experiment with the objective to identify effective botanical and optimum concentration on Macrotermes spp., was conducted. Five botanicals (Azadirachta indica, Jatropha curcas, Maesa lanceolata, Chenopodium ambrosoids, Vernonia hymenolepis) each at 4 concentrations (10, 20, 30 and 35% (w/v)) were tested on worker caste of Macrotermes spp., using topical application. Untreated and standard (Diazinon 60% EC) checks/controls were used for comparison. The experiment was laid-out in Completely Randomized Design with three replications for each concentration. The result of the study revealed that all botanical extracts at all concentrations tested were able to cause mortality on Macrotermes with less lethal time (LT50) than the untreated control. Among the botanical extracts, LT50 of 8.36 h was taken by J. carcus at 35% concentration followed by A. indica at 35% concentration and J. carcus at 30% concentration (both requiring 12.20 h). The untreated control resulted in no mortality of termites while the botanicals caused maximum mortality of 100% (J. caracus at 20-35% concentration) to minimum mortality of 88.33% (C. ambrosoids and V. hymenolepsis at 10% concentration) 72 h after exposure. In conclusions, the present study suggests that management of Macrotermes spp., using bio-termiticides plant extracts showed promising results that could be integrated in IPM of Macrotermes.

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How to cite this article
S. Addisu, D. Mohamed and S. Waktole, 2014. Efficacy of Botanical Extracts against Termites, Macrotermes spp., (Isoptera: Termitidae) under Laboratory Conditions. International Journal of Agricultural Research, 9: 60-73.

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