Adeolu Rufus Jose¹ , Jacobs Mobolade Adesina²

1. Science Laboratory Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, P. M. B. 1019, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
2. Department of Crop, Soil and Pest Management Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, P. M. B. 1019, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Molecular Zoology, 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/ijmz.2014.04.0001
Received: 17 Feb., 2014    Accepted: 14 May, 2014    Published: 30 May, 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.

Jose et al., 2014, Oviposition, Infestation Deterrent Activity and Phytochemical screening of Heliotropium indicum and Lawsonia inermis Against Callosobruchus maculatus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on Cowpea Seeds, International Journal of Molecular Zoology, Vol.4, No.1, 1-8 (doi: 10.5376/ijmz.2014.04.0001)

The cowpea beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus F. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)) is a major pest of stored cowpea, militating against food security in developing countries. The comparative studies of different powders of Heliotropium indicum and Lawsonia inermis leaves in respect to their phytochemical and insecticidal properties against C. maculatus was carried out using Complete Randomised Design (CRD) with 5 treatments (0, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5g/20g cowpea seeds) replicated 3 times under ambient conditions in the Biology Laboratory, Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. The phytochemical screening showed the presence of Tannins, Cardiac glycosides, Saponins, Flavonoid, Steroids, and Terpenoids in both plant powders. Phlobatanins and Anthraquinone was observed to be absent in both plants. While alkaloid was present in L. inermis and absent in H. indicum. The mortality of C. maculatus increased gradually with time of exposure and concentration of plant powders. L. inermis caused 81.14% adult mortality and H. indicum exerted 75% adult mortality at 120h after exposure time. Maximum oviposition deterrence activity was observed with L. inermis powder (54.26%) compared to H. indicum (51.32%). A significant (P<0.05) reduction in adult emergence was recorded among the treatments and maximum reduction was observed in the seeds treated with highest dosage rate of L. inermis (79.06%) and H. indicum (78.37%) leaves powder. Cowpea seeds treated with H. indicum powder was significantly different (P<0.05) across treatments, while cowpea seeds treated with L. inermis was not significantly different (P>0.05) in reducing infestation and weight loss, respectively. However, L. inermis had higher activity against the test insect pest than H. indicum. Conclusively, both plants have highly useful activity against the pest and therefore can be used in formulating environmental friendly phyto-insecticide.

Adult mortality; Heliotropium indicum; Infestation; Lawsonia inermis; Maximum; Phytochemical; Phyto-insecticide