Susceptibility of sitophilus zeamais mots. and callosobruchus maculatus F. to plant parts of ricinodendron heudelotii

Abstract

Studies were carried out in the laboratory to determine the efficacy of powders from plant parts of Ricinodendron heudelotii against the storage pests Sitophilus zeamais and Callosobruchus maculatus on stored maize and cowpea, respectively. Leaf, bark and root powders were added as admixtures to 100 g of grains to assess contact toxicity, damage assessment, progeny production and grain germination. Results indicated that the plant materials were toxic to the two insect species with over 30% and 75% mortality for S. zeamais and C. maculatus, respectively. Observable damage level was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower in treated grains while progeny production by both insect species was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced. Grain germination of both crops was not affected by the powders. The potential use of P. heudelotii in storage pest management is discussed.