The
effects of eleven vegetable powders applied in bean grains were
evaluated on the
biology of Acanthoscelides obtectus Say. The amount of 0.3g of powders
mixed to 10g of
grains of bean genotype IAC – Carioca was placed into plastic
boxes with four couples
of bean weevils during a 7-day period. Twenty five days after
infestation, we
started recording the oviposition and the number of emerged adults in
each treatment.
At the end of the adult emergence period, the dry weight of adults, the
weight
of consumed grains and period of development (egg-adult) were
evaluated. The
powders of Baccharis trimera Less.,
Mentha pulegium L. and Coriandrum sativum L. reduced the
oviposition
of A. obtectus,
but do not affect the development of bean weevil larvae.
The highest
oviposition was obtained with bean grains mixed to powders of Leonurus sibiricus L.. The lowest weight
of A. obtectus adults was obtained
from
bean grains treated with Azadirachta
indica A. Juss. possibly due to the occurrence of feeding
deterrence to A. obtectus larvae.
KEYWORDS - bean weevil, Phaseolus vulgaris, insecticidal plants