Today, Insect Pest management (IPM) has to face up to the economic and ecological consequences of the use of pest control measures. Fifty years of sustained struggle against harmful insects using synthetic and oil-derivative molecules has produced perverse secondary effects (mammalian toxicity, insect resistance and ecological hazards). The diversification of the approaches inherent in IPM is n...

In our screening program for new agrochemicals from local wild plants, Artemisia capillaris and A. mongolica were found to possess insecticidal activity against the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais. The essential oils of aerial parts of the two plants were obtained by hydrodistillation and were investigated by GC and GC-MS. The main components of A. capillaris essential oil were 1,8-cineole (13...

Minimizing atmospheric emissions of soil fumigants is critical for protecting human and environmental health. Covering the soil surface with a plastic tarp is a common approach to restrict fumigant emissions. The mass transfer of the fumigant vapors through the tarp is often the rate-limiting factor in fumigant emissions. An approach for standardizing measurements of film permeability is propos...

In our screening program for new agrochemicals from Chinese medicinal herbs, Murraya exotica was found to possess insecticidal activity against the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais and red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The essential oil of aerial parts of M. exotica was obtained by hydrodistillation and investigated by GC and GC-MS. The main components of M. exotica essential oil were spat...

fumigant toxicity of camphor was studied against the aphid aphis craccivora koch and three associated natural enemies, i.e. coccinella undecimpunctata l., aphelinus albipodus hayat & fatima and aphidius colemani viereck. aphis craccivora was the most tolerant one compared with all tested natural enemies as the recorded lc50 values were 12.71, 6.33, 1.16 and 0.48 mg camphor/liter space for t...