Insecticidal Effect of Essential Oils against Fall Webworm (Hypantria cunea Drury (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae))

Abstract

In this study, insecticidal effects of the essential oils obtained from plants Achillea biebersteinii Afan., Origanum onites L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Salvia pratensis L., Satureja hortensis L., Tanacetum balsamita L. on American White Butterfly [ Hyphantria cunea Drury, Lepidoptera: Arctiidae] were tested in laboratory conditions. In this context, larvae of the 3rd and 4th periods of H. cunea were exposed to essential oils at doses of 10, 15 and 20 μl/petri for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. All of the essential oils used in the study caused mortality at different rates; the highest effect was obtained with the essential oil from O.onites with a mortality rate of 87.7%. The oils from R. officinalis (74.4%), A biebersteinii. (74.4%), S. hortensis (68.8%), T. balsamita (34.4%), and S. pratensis (30.0%) followed this in this order. As a results of the dose effect tests conducted in the second part of the study, it was determined that T. balsamita (LD50=7.1 ppm) and O. onites (LD90=23.2 ppm) were the most toxic plant essential oils when lethal concentration values (LD50 and LD90) were considered. It was found that the essential oils of R. officinalis (LD50 = 86.1 ppm) and S. hortensis (LD90=62722.1 ppm) have the lowest toxic effect. The results obtained show that the essential oils from A. biebersteinii, O. onites, and R. officinalis can be used in the fight against H. cunea.