Feeding inhibitory activity of different medicinal plant oils against Papilio demoleus L

Abstract

The study was carried out to evaluate feeding inhibitory activity of plant oils viz., Lemon grass- Chirharit, Lemon grass- Krishana, Jatropha, Citronella grass, Eucalyptus, Nilgiri, Lippia, Lemon tulsi, Levender, Fennel, Mint, Palmrosa, Geranium sp. (at 1% and 2% conc.) against 5d and 10d old larvae of Papilio demoleus. The data showed varying degree of antifeedant activities of plant oils against P. demoleus. At 1 % conc. Maximum antifeedant activity was exhibited by Lemon grass- Chirharit (94.34 %) followed by Lemon grass- Krishna (78.11 %). At 2 % conc. similar trend was examined and Lemon grass- Chirharit revealed maximum antifeedant activity. Out of the twelve medicinal plant oils tested at 1 and 2% conc. against 10d old larvae of P. demoleus, all the plant oils significantly lowered the feeding. However a non -significant reduction in feeding was observed with Geranium (6.7 and 4.25cm2) at 1 and 2% conc., respectively.