K.D. Ileke¹ , O.O. Odeyemi² , M.O. Ashamo²

1. Department of Environmental Biology and Fisheries, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, PMB 001, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
2. Food Storage Technology Programme, Department of Biology, School of Science, Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Entomology, 2014, Vol. 5, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/me.2014.05.0002
Received: 22 Jan., 2014    Accepted: 12 Feb., 2014    Published: 27 Feb., 2014

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

 Ileke et al., 2014, Entomotoxic Effect of Cheese Wood, Alstonia boonei De Wild against Cowpea Bruchid, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) [Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae], Attacking Cowpea Seeds in Storage, Molecular Entomology, Vol.5, No.2 10-17 (doi: 10.5376/me.2014.05.0002)

Studies on the protectability of extracts of Cheese wood, Alstonia boonei  against cowpea bruchid, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) [Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae], attacking cowpea seeds were carried out in the laboratory at ambient temperature of 28±2^oC and relative humidity of 75±5%.  Cowpea seeds were tested against 2-3days old adult C. maculatus. The results obtained showed that the stem bark extract was most toxic to C. maculatus. The least toxic extracts on the insect was that of A. boonei  root. The stem bark extracts drastically reduced oviposition and adult emergence in C. maculatus. The cowpea seeds treated with root extract had the lowest % reduction in progeny development, while the highest % reduction in progeny development was obtained in seeds treated with stem bark extract. Stem bark extract completely prevented infestation and damage of the treated cowpea seeds for a period of two months as there was neither weight loss nor damage in the treated seeds. In the seeds treated with the leaf and root extracts, damage of 4.29% and 7.11% were recorded, respectively after two months of post-treatment. The efficacy of the plant could be arranged in this order of effectiveness thus; stem bark extract>leaf extract>root extract. Extract of A. boonei stem bark is effective in controlling cowpea bruchid, C. maculatus and could serve as an alternative to synthetic insecticides for the protection of stored cowpeas against bruchids.

Cowpea bruchid; Post-treatment; Plant extracts; Kneading extraction; Synthetic