Ovicidal activity of botanical oil formulations against Helicoverpa armigera Hubner and Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera：Noctuidae)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the ovicidal activity of different botanical oil formulations againstHelicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura. Methods: Different botanical oils were formulated with different ratio to evaluate the ovicidal activity against H. armigera and S. litura at 5, 10, 15 and 20μl/L concentrations. Results: All the oil formulations showed the ovicidal activity against H. armigera and S. litura. The maximum ovicidal actvity of 76.74 and 69.36% was noticed at 20μl/L concentration in formulation 3 PONNEEM. Formulation 4 Pongam oil showed lower ovicidal activity of 31.34 and 24.76% against H. armigera and S. litura respectively. Among the formulations, PONNEEM exhibited statistically superior ovicidal activity against both insect pests. Conclusions: the present study clearly showed PONNEEM as a pontenial biopesticide to control the egg stage of economically important pests of H. armigera and S. litura. This is the first report for the ovicidal activity of PONNEEM against these two insect pests.