REPELLENT AND ANTIFEEDANT PROPERTIES OF CRUDE EXTRACTS AGAINST EPICAUTA (COLEOPTERA: MELOIDAE).

FERNANDEZ ESTRELLA NATALÍN; CHRISTIAN J. SEQUIN; CAMPOS SOLDINI MARÍA PAULA; WAGNER LEANDRO SEBASTIAN; SAFENRAITER MELANIA E.

Congreso; 1st Joint Meeting ISCE/ALAEQ; 2016

Epicauta is one of the most diverse genera of Meloidae and it is considered an important horticultural pest in the world. Adults of species from South America have been reported as damaging several species of different plants families like Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae,Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Portulacaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophillaceae.The chemical control has given rise to several problems including the pollution of the environment by insecticide residues, the selection of resistant pest populations, the negative side effects on beneficial parasites and predators and the deleterious effects on human health. In this context the main objective are study the repellent and antifeedant properties of ethanolic extracts of several plants with the purpose of searching for environmentally-friendly compounds controls for Epicauta. The plants used areAmaranthus quitensis; Artemisia dracunculus; Brassica oleracea V. Capitata; B.oleracea V. Italica; Beta vulgaris V. conditiva; Borago officinalis; Capsicum annum V. Bell; Clematis bonariensis; Dysphnia ambrosioides; Lavandula sp.; Origanum vulgare; Passiflora caerulea; Rosmarinus officinalis; Spinacia oleracea; Tagetes patula; and Thymus vulgaris. For feeding choice assay an antifeedant index (AI) was calculated as [1- (T/C)] x 100 where T and C represent consumption on treated and untreated food, respectively. The repellence tests were conducted using filter paper separated in halves.Repellence percentages were determined for each extract. The ethanolic extracts from A. dracunculus and T. vulgaris showed more than 100% of repellent activity and ethanolic extracts from T. patula, T. vulgaris, R. officinalis and Artemisia dracunculus showed more than 90% inhibition of the feeding at 100 µg/cm2 against Epicauta. For the application of these extracts in the Epicauta control, we propose categorize each extract as an insect control product taking into account the antifeedant activity and repellent. With this aim in mind, we will establish a rank of the most active extracts, using their activity on Epicauta ?in situ?.