Abstract

Insecticidal potential of Calotropis procera and Annona squamosa ethanol extracts against Musca domestica

Author(s): Nighat Begum, Bechan Sharma, Ravi S. Pandey

Present study has been undertaken for the assessment of the larvicidal activities of crude ethanol extracts of Calotropis procera and Annona squamosa seeds againstMusca domestica. The third instar larvae of housefly were treated with the different concentrations of both the extracts by dippingmethod for 48 h. The larvaewere exposed to 5 and 10%concentrations of the LC50 value of each extract along with their control sets to evaluate their effect onmetamorphosis, nucleic acid and protein content in different developmental stages. Extract treatment resulted in several pupal deformities as well as inhibition of adult emergence. The data indicate that the seed extracts of these plantsmay be utilized as the probable candidates for the development of bioinsecticides to control the population of Musca domestica as safer and economic alternatives to the synthetic insecticides.