Repellence of Rosmarinus officinalis L. powder on Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in peanut seeds

Abstract

Aiming to evaluate Rosmarinus officinalis L. bioactivity on Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera:
Tenebrionidae), in peanut seeds cultivar BR-1, this work was carried out at the Entomology Laboratory
in Embrapa Cotton. The Repellence Test was accomplished by using 30 adult insects
per replicate, after 24 hours of starvation. Treated seeds at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% concentration and
non-treated seeds, were placed in a device to study the repellence of R. officinalis on T. castaneum
after 24 hours from bioassay start. For Repellence Index analysis, the formula IR=2G/
(G+P) was used, where G = % of insect on treated seeds and P = % of insects on the control
(non-treated seeds). For statistical data analysis, the Qui-square test (p>0,05) was used. We
conclude that R. officinalis powder presented repellent action in all evaluated concentrations.
Higher repellent effectiveness was obtained on T. castaneum at 4% concentration.