Insecticidal Effect of Chrysanthemum coronarium L. Flowers on the Pest Spodoptera littoralis Boisd and its Parasitoid Microplitis rufiventris Kok. with Identifying the Chemical Composition

• Published in: Journal of applied sciences (Asian Network for Scientific Information) Vol. 8; no. 10; pp. 1859 - 1866
• Main Authors: Shonouda, Mourad L., Osman, Salah, Salama, Osama, Ayoub, Amal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 15.05.2008
• Subjects: Chrysanthemum coronarium; Microplitis rufiventris; Spodoptera littoralis
• ISSN: 1812-5654
• DOI: 10.3923/jas.2008.1859.1866

The flower extract of Chrysanthemum coronarium L. and their fractions have shown insecticidal effect on the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis. The third instar larvae fed for two days on treated leaves were more susceptible to plant extracts and to their ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions. The active lowest concentration (5%) of the flower fractions showed no significant effect on the percent reduction of emerged adult parasitoids, Microplitis rufiventris Kok. GC/MS analysis revealed that the major constituents in ethyl acetate fraction were 3-dihydro-methylene-2-(3H) furanone (17.8%), jasmolin I (15.6%), carveol 1 (13.6%), phosphoric acid, tributyl ester (11.4%) and cinerin II (11.1%), while those of chloroform fraction were 5-hydroxy-3 methyl-lH-pyrazole (42.7%) and carveol 1(24.8%). The medicinal plant C. coronarium seems to be a promising plant for application in integrated pest management due to its safety to the surrounding environment.