Identification of oviposition deterrents from pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella(Saunders)

ABSTRACT

Aim: The present study was carried out to identify and explore novel areas of semiochemical based pest management like oviposition deterrents.Methodology: The oviposition deterrents were identified from larval faecal pellets of pink bollworm using methanol as solvent and analysed in GC-MS. Three fatty acids were identified and evaluated for oviposition deterrent effect. Results: In the present study, three major compounds namely; oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids were identified for the first time from larval faecal pellets of pink bollworm. Their oviposition deterrent effect was confirmed in bioassays carried out with different concentrations of identified compounds. The avoidance index (Ai) 0.78 ± 0.05 and per cent effective deterrency (PED) 87.42% was recorded in oleic acid at highest concentration followed by linoleic acid (Ai 0.77 ± 0.03; PED 86.61%) in reducing the egg laying by conspecific female. This clearly showed the role of these compounds as oviposition deterrent. Interpretation: The compounds, oleic and linoleic acids evaluated in laboratory showed oviposition deterrent effect on female pink bollworm reducing egg laying considerably. However, further field studies need to be conducted to validate these observations.