Antitermitic effect of the Lantana camara plant on subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Abstract

The insecticidal effects of Lantana camara L. (flowers, leaves, stems and roots) and the soil where lantana had been growing, on foraging activity and survival of the subterranean termites Coptotermes formosanus and Reticulitermes flavipes were examined in a 3‐week experiment. The soil in which lantana had been growing had no effect on termite tunneling and survival. Incorporation of chipped fresh lantana leaves and stems into soil had no effect on mortality but caused significant reduction in tunneling. The 5‐cm wide barrier of soil with lantana tissue incorporated effectively repelled groups of both species from penetrating the barrier and thus prevented infestation of a piece of wood on the other side of the barrier. C. formosanus was more sensitive in avoiding the barrier than R. flavipes. Leaves, stems and flowers were more repellent than roots. These results provide preliminary evidence that fresh‐cut lantana leaves, stems and flowers may have use as additives to garden mulches against termites.

Evaluation of Plant Extracts on Mortality and Tunneling Activities of Subterranean Termites in Pakistan

“…Criteria used to evaluate potential soil termiticides have been termites' ability to tunnel through treated soil and toxicity of material (plant extracts) in laboratory experiments (Grace et al, 1993;Su et al, 1993). The results exhibited herein are mostly the confirmation of the results obtained elsewhere for the medicinal plant extracts having anti-termite properties and termite-resistant formulations Ding & Hu, 2010). Dodonaea viscosa (Purple hop bush) has been reported as a termite resistant shrub (Anonymous, 2001), but bioassay of its extracts with termites has been investigated for the first time in this report.…”

“…The deleterious effects of phytochemcials or crude plant extracts on insects are manifested in several ways, including suppression of calling behaviour (Khan & Saxena, 1986), growth retardation (Breuer & Schmidt, 1995), toxicity (Hiremath et al, 1997), oviposition deterrence (Zhao et al, 1998), feeding inhibition (Wheeler & Isman, 2001) and reduction of fecundity and fertility (Muthukrishnan & Pushpalatha, 2001). Many plants have been recognized to have anti-termitic activities (Sakasegawa et al, 2003, Park & Shin, 2005, Jembere et al, 2005, Cheng et al, 2007, Ding & Hu, 2010, Supriadi and Ismanto, 2010 or repellent to the termites i.e., Eucalyptus globules, lemmon grass, Eucalyptus citrodora, cedar wood, clove bud and vetiver grass (Zhu et al, 2001a, b), Taiwania cryptomerioides Hayat (Chang et al, 2001), Dodonaea viscosa (Purple hop bush) a termite resistant shrub (Anonymous, 2001), Ocimum basilicum L., Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt, Cinammomum camphora, Rosmarinus officinalis (Sbeghen et al, 2002) and Coleus ambionicus (Singh et al, 2004) are less extensively studied against termites.…”

Repellent, Antifeedant, and Toxic Activities of <I>Lantana camara</I> Leaf Extract Against <I>Reticulitermes flavipes</I> (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

“…Species-speciÞc sensitivity toward insecticides and repellency has been frequently reported (Smythe andCarter 1970, Heupel 2002). Ding and Hu (2010) and Yuan and Hu (2011) reported repellent activity of L. camara leaves (fresh or dry). Leaves incorporated into soil acted as an anti-termite barrier and effectively reduced tunneling activity of Rhinotermitidae termites.…”

“…Although the extracts of its aerial parts have been reported to have insecticidal properties against various insect pests (AbdelÐHady et al 2005, Innocent et al 2008, there is little scientiÞc investigation of the effects against termite (Verma and Verma 2006). Recently, two studies documented that the leaves of two L. camara cultivars, ÔMozelleÕ and ÔNew Gold,Õ fresh or dry, acted as an anti-termite barrier when incorporated into soil and effectively reduced termites (Rhinotermitidae) foraging activity (Ding andHu 2010, Yuan andHu 2011). We are interested in whether the leaf extract has termiticidal activities if used on termite food source and tunnel substance.…”

Evaluation of differential antitermitic activities of Lantana camara oven-dried tissues against Reticulitermes virginicus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

“…Verma and Verma (2006) reported a mortality of 68.7% within 48 h in the termite Microcerotermes beesoni Snyder (Isoptera: Termitidae), feeding on filter paper treated with a 5% chloroform extract of L. camara leaves. An earlier study documented the use of fresh lantana leaf‐mulch as a repellent barrier to termites (Ding & Hu, 2010). However, chemical compositions in plants often vary with seasonal plant status (fresh or dried) (Randrianalijaona et al ., 2005; Okon et al ., 2008).…”