Effect of Age of Eugenia aromatic Powder on the Control of Callosobruchus maculatus and Sitophilus zeamais

Abstract

The shelf life of Eugenia aromatica in the control of Callosobruchus maculatus and Sitophilus zeamais was considered from its formulated dusts that was prepared and preseved for 5 years. Dry fruits of E. aromatic was obtained, pulverized and sieved to a particle size of 150 µm which was preserved in a air-tight plastic container under ambient laboratory conditions. To determine the efficacy of the powder, it was applied at one month later at 12 month ınterval for 5 years on a culture of cowpea storage beetles, C. maculatus and maize weevils, S. zeamais in No. 1 Kilner jars in the laboratory. The efficacy of the plant powder against C. maculatus and S. zeamais was measured by beetle mortality after 48 and 96 hours post-treatment respectively during which high insect mortality was observed at all stages of treatment applications. Also the number of eggs laid by introduced females, number of F1 beetles and seed holing after removal of F1 individuals were also determined for the control of C. maculatus while the number of F1 beetles and grain weight loss after removal of F1 individuals were determined for S. zeamais. General observations showed that there was no significant difference in the efficacy of E. aromatic with respect to all the parameters obtained on the two insect pests studied throughout the experiment. Thus, this study gave an insight to the proficient use of E. aromatic in storage pest control and well as the shelf life of its active ingredient.