WATER EXTRACTS OF LEAVES OF SOME Morus alba L. VARIETIES AS A POSSIBLE BOTANICAL PESTICIDE AGAINST COTTON LEAF WORM, Spodoptera littoralis BOISD.

Abstract

First and fourth larval instars of a sensitive laboratory strain of the cotton leaf worm; Spodoptera littoralis Boisd. were reared on castor Ricinus communis L. leaves; treated with three concentrations (5.0, 10.0 and 15.0%) of water extracts prepared from three different varieties of mulberry leaves; Morus alba var rosa, M. alba var morittiana and M. alba var kokuso -27. Different biological aspects were determined to evaluate the insecticidal effect of the three mulberry varietyleaves. The M. alba var rosa was significantly more lethal to both larval instars of S.littoralis than the M. alba var morittiana and M. alba var kokuso-27 The fourth larval instar was more tolerant to the lethal effect of all mulberry leaf extracts than the first one. The higher the concentration of mulberry leaf extracts the greatest the lethal effect obtained with all treatments. Protein profile of haemolymph samples was monitored for the sixth larval instar of S.littoralis leaves by the 15.0% concentration of all mulberry varieties from the fourth larval instar. Electrophoretic protein analysis showed disappearance of some protein bands in haemolymph samples from treated larvae by M. alba var rosa.

Insecticidal and feeding deterrence activity of selected essential oils against Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.)

“…This pest is widely distributed in temperate zones in Asia and Africa, in Egypt and all over the world [2] . They attended to use plant extracts as repellents, anti-feed ant, growth regulators, synergists and toxicants for cotton leaf worm [3,4,5] . Botanicals are plant-derived materials and have little or no harmful effect on the environment and non-target organisms, easily produced, cheap, fast biodegradable and may retard the development of resistance.…”