Leguminous Seeds Powder Diet Reduces the Survival and Development of the Khapra Beetle, <i>Trogoderma granarium</i> Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Chemical storage pest control is interlinked with many challenges such as environmental pollution and toxicity to humans and animals. Alternative tools are thus being increasingly researched and applied to supplement and/or substitute old-fashioned chemical means. Entomotoxic proteins, such as the l...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Spiridon Mantzoukas, Georgia Korbou, Alexandra Magita, Panagiotis A. Eliopoulos, Konstantinos Poulas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
Series:Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/9/8/204
Description
Summary:Chemical storage pest control is interlinked with many challenges such as environmental pollution and toxicity to humans and animals. Alternative tools are thus being increasingly researched and applied to supplement and/or substitute old-fashioned chemical means. Entomotoxic proteins, such as the lectins of leguminous seeds, have been shown to be effective alternative control agents against many serious insect pests. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the flour of three leguminous seeds, <i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> L. (Fabaceae) (the common bean), <i>Vicia faba</i> L. (Fabaceae) (the broad bean) and <i>Glycine max</i> L. (Fabaceae) (the soya bean), against 4th instar larvae of <i>Trogoderma granarium</i> Everts (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The flours were tested at different concentrations. They all demonstrated significant effects on larval mortality, as well as they all induced a decrease in the number of larvae reaching the pupal stage. The flours of <i>P. vulgaris</i> and <i>V. faba</i> were highly insecticidal against <i>T. granarium</i> larvae, especially at the highest concentrations (86.7% for PV100 and 90% for VF100). Our results enrich previous findings on the entomotoxic effect of leguminous plant lectins and highlight <i>P. vulgaris</i> and <i>V. faba</i> lectins as potential alternative control agents against <i>T. granarium</i>.
ISSN:2079-7737