Biological control of Epicauta atomaria (Coleoptera: Meloidae) from the use of ethanolic extracts of vegetables

Fernández, Estrella N.; Sequín, Christian J. ; Campos-Soldini, María P. y Melania E. Safenraiter

Abstract

Numerous cases have been reported where Epicauta atomaria feeds on different crops, especially horticultural ones. The damage they cause is such that they reduce the leaves to only veins. Due to this, we set ourselves the objective of carrying out repellent-attractant and anti-feeding bioactivity tests of ethanolic extracts on adult specimens of E. atomaria. The extracts were made from Amaranthus hybridus, Artemisia dracunculus, Beta vulgaris var. cicla, Dysphania ambrosioides, Lavandula, Origanum vulgare, Passiflora caerulea, Rosmarinus officinale, Tagetes patula and Thymus vulgare. The efficacy of the extracts tested reveals that T. vulgaris, A. dracunculus and Lavandula sp., due to their repellent and anti-feeding effects, have compounds with potential bioactivity for the biological control of this beetle. While A. hybridus, P. caerulea and B. vulgaris var. cicla, would be potentially useful for the preparation of attractant tallows in horticultural crops.