EVALUATION OF SURVIVAL OF Plutella xylostella LARVAE EXPOSED TO THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF Mentha spicata

Authors

  • Amanda Maria Nunes Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
  • João Paulo Ramos de Melo Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
  • Marcilio Martins de Moraes Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
  • Claudio Gomes da Camara Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco

Keywords:

Plutella xylostella, Mentha spicata, AZAMAX®, CARVONE

Abstract

Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), popularly known as cruciferous moth, is an important pest that attacks Brassicas crops (kale, lettuce, chard, cabbage, etc). P. xylostella control is mainly carried out with the application of commercial insecticides that, due to their increasing use, can cause damage to the environment. As an alternative to these insecticides, have the use of essential oils. Among the essential oil producing species that show promising insecticidal agents are species of the genus Mentha. The objective of this work was to evaluate the survival of larvae of P. xylostella exposed to the essential oil of Mentha spicata and the commercial insecticide, Azamax®. GC-MS analysis of M. spicata oil revealed predominance of carvone (66.40 ± 0.90%) and limonene (19.16 ± 0.22%). For survival evaluation, 3rd instar larvae of P. xylostella were placed on leaf of cabbage and exposed for 12h to treatments with essential oil of Mentha spicata and Azamax® diluted with water and DMSO (0.1%). Negative control was performed with water and DMSO (0.1%). The concentration used for commercial botanical essential oil and insecticide was 1 µL mL-1. The survival curve was analyzed according to the method proposed by Kaplan-Meier. P. xylostella presented 91.67% survival in the negative control. Mentha spicata essential oil formulation had a survival of 3.45%. The positive control, Azamax®, had a 18.92% mortality rate when applied at a concentration of 1 µL mL-1. These data reveal significant differences by the Log-Rank test (x2 = 15.16; DF=2; P=0.0005) between the three survival curves studied here by the Kaplan-Meier method. Thus the essential oil of M. spicata has shown promise in reducing survival of P. xylostella larvae.

Published

2019-10-20

How to Cite

Nunes, A. M., Melo, J. P. R. de, Moraes, M. M. de, & Camara, C. G. da. (2019). EVALUATION OF SURVIVAL OF Plutella xylostella LARVAE EXPOSED TO THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF Mentha spicata. Caderno Verde De Agroecologia E Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 9(5), b–89. Retrieved from https://www.gvaa.com.br/revista/index.php/CVADS/article/view/7278

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