Pesticidal Activity of Eucalyptus Leaf Extracts against Helicoverpa armigera Larvae

Abstract

Plant biodiversity is of immense importance for finding a wide range of biomolecules. Plants have remained source for many important pesticides such as rotenoids, nicotine, pyrethroids, neem etc¹. The discovery of many synthetic pesticides also fmd its origin from plant based chemicals. The need for newer pesticides remain ever persisting in order to combat the problem of resistance in the insects. Helicoverpa armigera is one of the major insect pest in India. It attacks many economically important crop species viz. cotton, pigeonpea, chickpea, tomato, sunflower, etc². Currently, it is the most difficult species to control because of emergence of resistance to most of the commercially available insecticides. In search of newer molecules for pesticidal action, leaves of Eucalyptus species were tested against Helicoverpa armigera reared on artificial diet. The paper summarises the findings of this investigation.