Bioactivity of Plant Essential Oil against Potato Tuber Moth,Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Phthorimaea operculella (Potato tuber moth) is a destructive pest of stored potatoes and potato crops, primarily in subtropical areas of the globe. It is a pest of the field as well as storage, the larvae damage the crop through the foliage, stem, and tubers too. The manifestation of potato tuber moth primes to high economic damages in production worldwide. Post-harvest protection of the potato tubers becomes important and is challenging. A treatment with chemical agents is a possible strategy but cannot be recommended for food items hence alternative methods become important in control of these moths. The present study deals with the assessment of plant oils of Cinnamomum verum, Cupressuss sempervirens and Cymbopogon nardus. These plant oils were used to evaluate the larvicidal, adulticidal, Insect growth regulatory, repellency and oviposition deterrence activities against potato tuber moth. Results of the present work indicated that all the test oils show some promise as pest control agents against P. operculella. Oil of C. verum has exhibited promising toxic action (larvicidal LC50 = 110.10 μg/cm2, adulticidal LC50 = 49.78 μg/cm2). The oil of C. nardus caused promising IGR activity (delay in development = 16.2 days) All three plant oils have shown multifarious activity and can be a part of an eco-friendly and user-friendly method of control.