Assessment of antifeedant potential of azadirachtin, a plant product of Azadirachta indica against Papilio demoleus L. (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) larvae

Abstract

The lemon butterfly Papilio demoleus is one of the economically important pests whose larval forms cause serious damage by both wild and cultivated species of citrus during the later stages of their development. Nowadays increasing efforts are made to develop environmentally safer pest control methods, one such method can be the use of natural antifeedants. Azadirachtin a plant product and secondary metabolite isolated from Azadirachta indica was evaluated their antifeedant activity against fourth instar larvae of Papilio demoleus, following no-choice leaf bioassay method. The feeding deterrence of Azadirachtin was evaluated at 200, 150, 100, 50 ppm concentrations for 24 hrs. and 48 hrs. exposure. Results showed that the Azadirachtin treated larvae showed maximum antifeedant activity of 86.28% and 70.43% at 200ppm concentration The antifeedant activity were increased with increasing concentration. Azadirachtin could also be considered for use in the management of pests.