Ayesha Aihetasham, Aysha Anayat, Muhammad Xaaceph
Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Termites are one of the most troublesome pest of plants, trees, wooden infrastructure and agricultural crops. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the population of some plant oils using Eugenia caryophyllata, Elettaria cardamomum and Citrus sinensis against Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann) at Punjab University, New Campus Lahore, Pakistan. All plants were effectively toxic against C. heimi as 100 % mortality was observed at 62.5, 125 and 250 µl/ml doses within three to four days of exposure. All plant oils extracts proved to be highly repellent to the termites even in the low concentrations. These plant oils can be used for effective termite control being less expensive and biodegradable, hence environmentally suitable.
Keywords: Termites, Plant extracts, Repellency