Toxic Efficiency of Fumigation by using Two Essential Oils against the Red Flour Beetle Tribolium castaneum

The aim of the study is to use eco-friendly materials to combat the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum by taking advantage of the resources found in nature by extracting volatile oils from Eucalyptus globulus and Artemisia vulgaris in combating this pest.

The current study was carried out at the Directorate of Diyala Agriculture’s plant protection laboratory during April 2023 to evaluate the essential oils, which included Eucalyptus globulusand Artemisia vulgariswith three concentrations of 5, 15 and 25 μL L^-1 air, at three time 12 hour, 24 hour, 48 hour, against larvae and adults of Tribolium castaneum, under laboratory conditions. The experiment was conducted to evaluate the mortality rate for both larvae and adults Tribolium castaneum.

The essential oils of Eucalyptus and Artemisia with a concentration of 25 μL L^-1 air, recorded the highest mortality (100%, 46.66%) after 48 hours, exposure time against the larvae respectively. While the percentage against of adults recorded (100%, 90%) after 48 hours. For Eucalyptus and Artemisia, respectively. It was observed that there was a direct proportion between the duration of exposure and mortality rates, with the highest mortality rates reaching 55.23 and 63.81 after 48 hours for both larvae and adults, respectively. The same thing applies to the relationship between the rate of effect of concentrations and mortality rates. As the concentration increases, deaths increase. Noting that there were no significant differences between the volatile oils and the insecticide treatment Deltamethrin 10% EC. This confirms the reliability of essential oils extracted from plants in the applied field of pest management in store products.