EXTRATO AQUOSO DE Azadirachta indica A. Juss NO CONTROLE DE Alphitobius diaperinus Panzer.

One of the major sectors of the Brazilian economy is the poultry industry, with high productivity of chicken. However, one of the factors that may affect this branch of production is the presence of pests on the farm, like the beetle Alphitobius diaperinus (mealworm), an insect of the family Tenebrionidae, originating from West Africa. From the literature, we observe the insecticidal activity of the leaf extract of neem (Azadirachta indica) in beetles mealworm thus helping to control and reduce this which is one of the major problems of modern poultry production. Neem has been known for over 5,000 years and has the control action of about 430 species of pests that occur in the world. Thus, this study aimed to test different doses of aqueous extract of neem leaves as a natural alternative to control this insect population. The following concentrations were analyzed: 1/20 (w/v), 1/6, 67 (w/ v), 1/3, 33 (w/ v) to the dried sheet, the control and treatment of water in concentration of 1/2 (w/ v) with fresh leaves, sprayed directly on the insects. Treatments showed no significant differences in mortality of insects except for the 504 hours of the test, showing not technically feasible method to control this pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]