Effects of Aqueous and Alcoholic Extracts of Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus on Some Biological Aspects of the Fig Moth, Ephestia cautella

Abstract

Kamil, S.H. 2024. Effects of Aqueous and Alcoholic Extracts of Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus on Some Biological Aspects of the Fig Moth, Ephestia cautella. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 42(3): 377-381. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001245 This study evaluated the effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of lemongrass on the third instar larvae of the date moth Ephestia cautella Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). The results obtained showed that there were toxic effects of aqueous extract, which produced the highest mortality rate of 43.35% at 5% concentration72 hours after treatment, whereas the lowest mortality rate of 17% was obtained at 0.5% concentration, 72 hours after treatment. The LC50 was 0.082%. The results indicated that the highest repellency rate of the aqueous extract was 71.33%, two hours after treatment, at 5% concentration, with significant decrease in repellency rate, 4 and 6 hours after treatment. The results also showed that the ethanolic extract gave higher mortality rate of 96.68% at the 5% concentration, and the lowest mortality rate of 43.33% at 0.05% concentration, 72 hours after treatment, with a LC50 of 0.008%. The repellency rates were highest (94.55%) at 5% concentration, 2 hours after exposure. In conclusion, aqueous and ethanolic extracts of lemon grass had good toxic and repellent effects that make them potential candidates for insect control of stored dates, as they are safe, eco-friendly and economically inexpensive products compared to chemical pesticides. Keywords: Plant extract, Lemongrass, control, Ephestia cautella.