Abstract

REPELLENT EFFECT OF THREE PLANTS CURCUMA LONGA, CYMBOPOGON CITRATUS, ADHATODA VASICA AGAINST INSECT PEST SILVERFISH, ACROTELSA COLLARIS (FABR.) (THYSANURA: LEPISMATIDAE)

Sandeep Kumar*, Karuna Singh and K.N. Dwivedi

Abstract

Silverfish is well known nauseous insect pest of houses, libraries,museums, and business places feed on variety of food such as fabrics,paper products, paste or glue as well as books, and damage them.Silverfish also carries some allergens, though no major human healththreat it is a nauseous domestic pest. Chemical repellents used tocontrol are not only harmful to human health but also a major concernof environment. In India, plants are being used since a long time, notonly as a medicine but also as insect pest control which are locallyavailable, low in cast and safe for human health and environment. Inpresent work three plants were screened for their repellency againstSilverfish. Adult Silverfish (Acrotesla collaris) (Fabr.) were collected and reared at roomtemperature in laboratory conditions. Insect nymphs of about 90-120 days were used forrepellency test. Three plants part Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) rhizome, Lemon grass(Cymbopogon citratus) and Vasa (Adhatoda vasica) leaves were extracted in petroleum ether,ethanol and water. A dose of 10 mg/ml prepared and repellency was tested using filter paperaccording to the McDonald's standard method no.3 with some modifications. Data wereanalyzed by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The present study reports that amongst thethree extracts of Curcuma longa, ethanol extract showed maximum repellency of class V,while petroleum ether showed a repellency of class four, Lemon grass petroleum ether extractshowed a repellency of class IV and Vasa water extract showed a repellency of class V,against Silverfish. Therefore, the study suggests that the above three extracts may be used asrepellent for the control and management of Silverfish species. The study also emphasizes the use of these plants based natural products as an alternative of synthetic insect repellent against silverfish.

Keywords: Insect Repellent. Acrotesla collaris (Fabr). Cymbopogon citratus. Curcuma longa. Adhatoda vasica.