Effect of leaf extracts of some indigenous plants on settling and oviposition responses of peach fruit fly,bactrocera zonata (diptera: Tephritidae)

The experiments were set up to investigate the settling and ovipositional deterrent effects of crude leaf extracts of six indigenous plants viz.,amaltas (cassia fistula),datura (datura alba),neem (azadirachta indica),niazboo (ocimum basilicum),yellow kaner (thevetia peruviana) and safeda (eucalyptus camaldulensis) against the peach fruit fly,bactrocera zonata (saunders),at 2% concentration in a free choice bioassays. acetone,chloroform,petroleum ether and ethanol were used for extraction from leaves. amongst the various treatments applied,the acetone extract of d. alba showed the highest repellency of 84.14%,whereas,the lowest repellency of 10.73% was observed by the chloroform extract of t. peruviana. significant ovipositional deterrent effects of the extracts applied have been observed. maximum oviposition inhibition was shown by petroleum ether extract of a. indica (57.14%),while the lowest ovipositon deterrence of 5.71% was exhibted by the petroleum ether extract of c. fistula. however,in case of the petroleum ether extract of o. basilicum and the acetonic extract of eucalyptus more pupae were developed in treated fruits as compared to their untreated guavas. the acetonic extracts of t. peruviana showed overall less settlings on treated guava fruit resulting in less number of pupae developed. the results suggested that the extracts of plants tested in the present study could be considered in the management plans for the peach fruit fly. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.