comparison effect of ethanolic seed extract of melia azedarach l. ‎‎(meliaceae) against two aphid species

background & aim: aphids are of serious pests and vectors of multitude of viral diseases of field crops, vegetables, ‎and greenhouse crops. they have displayed a remarkable ability to establish resistance to ‎almost every insecticide with which it has been treated. to reduce the damage of these pests ‎and dependence on the sometimes unwise use of synthetic pesticides in crop and vegetable ‎plantations, the toxicity of ethanolic seed extract of melia azedarach l. (meliaceae) was ‎assayed against 3-4 days-old individuals of aphis gossypii glover and myzus persicae (sulzer) ‎‎(hemiptera: aphididae).‎ experimental: in this study, m. azedarach l. seeds were collected from kerman, iran. they were milled and ‎powdered and extracted with ethanol (95%) solvent. all experiments with different ‎concentrations were conducted by topical test bioassay in laboratory. the treated aphids were ‎reared at 25±1 °c temperature, relative humidity of 60±10 % and 16 hours of artificial light at ‎an intensity of about 4000 lux. ethanol (95%) was used as control treatments. ‎ results & discussion: the results indicated that in the concentration 60 µl/ml, the mortality of a. gossypii treatment ‎after 24 h was 95% and it was significantly higher than m. persicae treatment (p