Efficacy of extracts of aromatic plants in the management of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)

Quantitative and qualitative losses of stored products are mainly due to the infestation of pests such as Tribolium castaneum which is widely managed using the synthetic pesticides and fumigants. Due to their injudicious use and harmful effects, the use of equally effective botanicals is the need of the hour. In the present study, efforts were made to utilize the indigenous aromatic plants namely Citrus limon, Murraya koenigii, Laurus nobilis and Pimenta dioica for the control of the pest. The leaves were extracted in various solvents namely methanol, ethanol, acetone and water. The results reveal that most effective extracts were ethanolic extract of L. nobilis (92.0±3.7% mortality), the aqueous extract of P. dioica (91.4±8.1%) and the methanolic and ethanolic extracts of C. limon (84.0±4.2%,76.0±6.5%) and M. koenigii (85.7±4.5%,75.3±5.7%). The present study thus validates the use of these plants for the management of the red flour beetle.