The Toxic Spectrum of Ricinus Communisand Zingiber Officinalis Essential Oils against Musca Domestica L.

Abstract

The housefly, Musca domestica L., is a cosmopolitan insect, associated with various diseases and is one of the species with the greatest ability to develop resistance to insecticides. The study designed to evaluate the larvicidal, pupicidal, adulticidal and ovicidal effect of lethal concentrations LC50 of R. communis and Z. officinalis essential oils against the housefly M. domestica L. The larvicidal mortality (LC50) values of R. communis and Z. officinalis essential oils against M. domestica were 349.40 ppm and 132.60 ppm, with mortality percentage 46.67±2.89 and 50.00±0.00, respectively. The LC50 doses showed pupation mortality percentage (31.21 and 46.67) and adult mortality percentage (36.90 and 63.33), respectively. As compared to control, the treated 2 nd larval instar with either R. communis or Z. officinalis essential oils showed significant decline in the fecundity of M. domestica females through significant decrease in the total eggs number as compared to control (72.67% and 62.00%) with Effective Repellency (ER%) (51.34 and 58.48) and the Oviposition Activity (OAI) (-0.35 and -0.41), respectively. The hatchability of eggs recorded significant reduction as compared to control (86.38% and 73.66%) for R. communis and Z. officinalis, respectively. The present study revealed toxic properties of the tested plant extracts of R. communis and Z. officinalis against M. domestica L. and pave the way for its use as a measure of the eco-friendly housefly control.