Insecticidal Activity of Lemongrass Essential Oil as an Eco-Friendly Agent against the Black Cutworm Agrotis ipsilon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
by
, , and
Moataz A. M. Moustafa
1, 
Mona Awad
1,
Alia Amer
2, 
Nancy N. Hassan
1,
El-Desoky S. Ibrahim
1,
Hayssam M. Ali
3,
Mohammad Akrami
4
and
Mohamed Z. M. Salem
5,*
1
Department of Economic Entomology and Pesticides, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
2
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12556, Egypt
3
Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
4
Department of Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
5
Forestry and Wood Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Insects 2021, 12(8), 737; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12080737
Submission received: 19 July 2021
/
Revised: 10 August 2021
/
Accepted: 10 August 2021
/
Published: 17 August 2021
(This article belongs to the Collection Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology)
Simple Summary
The insect pest, black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), attacks the seedling stage of many field crops in several countries around the world. To control this insect pest, in this study, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil observed potential insecticidal activity against the second-instar larvae of A. ipsilon.
Abstract
Background: The destructive insect pest Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous species targeting many economically important plants. The extensive and arbitrary use of insecticides has resulted in the build-up of insecticide resistance and pesticide residues accumulating in food. Therefore, it is becoming evident that alternative pest management tools are needed to reduce risks to humans, the environment, and non-target organisms, and at the same time, they should be used in field application at the lowest cost. Methods: In view of this objective, the present study demonstrates the toxicity of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf) essential oil (EO), against the black cutworm A. ipsilon under controlled laboratory conditions in terms of measuring the activity of peroxidase and detoxification enzymes. The chemical components of the EO were analyzed using GC–MS. Results: The results show that after 96 h post treatment, the LC15 and LC50 values were 427.67 and 2623.06 mg/L, respectively, of C. citratus EO on second-instar larvae of A. ipsilon. A slight significance in elongation of the larval duration with LC15 and LC50 value was found with control. By GC–MS analysis, the main compounds identified in the EO were α-citral and β-citral with percentages of 35.91%, and 35%, respectively. The oxidative stress indicates a significant increase in CAT and lipid peroxidase enzyme activity after 96 h post treatment at the LC15 and LC50. Conversely, the detoxification enzyme activity shows an inhibition of CarE and GST enzymes of larvae exposed to LC15 and LC50 values in response to C. citratus EO. Conclusions: The present data show that lemongrass EO has insecticidal activity against the black cutworm, A. ipsilon.
Keywords:
Agrotis ipsilon; essential oil; enzyme activity; lemongrass; toxicity
