Abstract

GONZALES DIAZ, Andie Alexander  and  CABRERA LA ROSA, Juan Carlos. Effect of root exudates of "castor oil plant" Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae) on mortality of white larvae of Gymnetis bonplandii Schaum (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Arnaldoa [online]. 2017, vol.24, n.1, pp.351-358. ISSN 1815-8242.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.241.24117.

Root exudates are secondary metabolites secreted by the root, which have different functions in nature. In the literature, there is little information about the effect of these substances on underground biota. In this research, we studied the effect of root exudates of five ecotypes of "castor oil plant" Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae) on the first instar larvae of Gymnetis bonplandii Schaum (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), a common underground pest under high organic matter soil. The five ecotypes of castor oil plant were planted in polyethylene bags in a random complete design with nine replicates and a control. Two first instar larvae from laboratory rearing were conditioned in specially designed cages to confine larvae in the soil. Data of seven-day larval mortality was corrected considering natural mortality using Schneider-Orelli’s formula prior to ANOVA and Duncan comparison test using the SPSS statistical program. These results indicate that the five ecotypes had lethal effect on first instar larvae of G. bonplandii Schaum and mortality ranged between 30 and 90 %, therefore they may be used as biological components in pest management.

Keywords : root exudates; Ricinus communis; Euphorbiaceae; Gymnetis bonplandii; Coleoptera; Scarabaeidae.

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