Feeding deterrence in sweet wormwood and Indian snakeroot against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera Hub. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Insect feeding deterrence of ten important medicinal and aromatic plants namely Artemisia annua, Alliumsativum, Catharanthus roseus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Foeniculum vulgare, Mentha spicata, Pelargonium granveolens, Pogostemon patchouli, Rauvolfia serpentina, and Trigonella foenum-graecum was evaluated against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera Hub. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by extracting their different plant parts in methanol, acetone & aqueous, and mixing in semi-synthetic insect diet with the aim to develop a novel, eco-friendly and potential plant biopesticide for the IPM in future. Among different extracts acetone and aqueous shoot extracts of A. annua and root extract of R. serpentina showed more than 80 per cent insect growth regulator activity against H. armigera. there was drastic loss of mean larval weight by diet containing methanol shoot extract of A. annua (90.46%) and root extract of R. serpentina (88.65%) as compared to control. However, as compared to neem seed kernel acetone extract, maximum larval weight reduction was found in acetone shoot extract of A. annua (81.45%) and root extract of R. serpentina (82.27%). shoot extract of A. annua and root extract of R. serpentina showed drastic reduction in mean larval weight over untreated control and NsKE.