EFFICACY OF SOME INDIGENOUS PLANT SMOKE AGAINST RED FLOUR BEETLE, TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM (L)

  
Red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is one of the major insect pests of stored grains. Due to export legislation and zero-tolerance for live insects in trade commodities, extensive use of synthetic insecticides is in practice to eliminate pest infestations from the lots. Currently, the only acceptable chemical to be used in stored grain is phosphine but due to its excessive usage, the stored grain pests are becoming resistant to it. Hence, the discovery of alternative compounds is much needed. In this study, we have compared the repellency of different plants smoke from five commonly found plants of Pakistan, viz. neem Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), costus Saussurea lappa (Asteraceae), turmeric Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae), sweet flag Acorus calamus (Acoraceae) and valerian Valeriana officinalis (Caprifoliaceae) against T. castaneum. After two hours of smoke, Azadirachta indica showed a maximum 75.89±2.14% repellency followed by Saussurea lappa (44.15±1.87%), Curcuma longa (43.22±2.51%), Acorus calamus (23.15±1.75%;) and Valeriana officinalis (18.40±1.40%). This is a baseline study for the management of T. castaneum, further research on this aspect is required to be investigated. The results of this study support the use of botanicals alternative to synthetic insecticides for stored product pest management.