Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24

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Crop Protection
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cropro

Effects of neem based insecticides on Plutella xylostella (Linn.)

Nadeem Ahmad, M. Shafiq Ansari*, Fazil Hasan
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A study on the effect of neem based insecticides on Plutella xylostella (Linn.) was conducted under labo-
Received 12 September 2011 ratory conditions. Three neem based insecticides, NeemazalÒT/S (1% EC @ 100 mg azadirachtin/liter),
Received in revised form NeemixÒ (0.25% EC @ 25 mg azadirachtin/liter) and NeemexcelÒ (0.15% EC @ 15 mg azadirachtin/liter) were
9 December 2011
evaluated for their effects on biological parameters, pupal weight and nutritional indices of P. xylostella on
Accepted 18 December 2011
cauliflower leaves. The concentrations tested were 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppm of active ingredient. The highest
concentrations (15 and 20 ppm) of all three neem insecticides significantly affected the biological
Keywords:
parameters of P. xylostella when compared with the lowest concentrations (5 and 10 ppm) and the non-
P. xylostella
Cauliflower
treated control, Neemazal being the most effective. Results showed that development time was concen-
Fitness tration dependent for all the neem insecticides. Neemazal significantly prolonged the development time
Nutritional indices at a higher concentration when compared with the other neem insecticides and non-treated control.
Neem insecticides Neemazal significantly affected the biological parameters and reduced the weight of pupa at 15 and
20 ppm concentration due to reduced consumption and utilization of food. However, no significant
difference was detected between these two concentrations i.e. 15 and 20 ppm of Neemazal. Therefore, from
the overall findings it could be concluded that the concentration of Neemazal i.e. 15 ppm could be utilized
in IPM programs for P. xylostella in cauliflower crops.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The diamond back moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (Linn.) (Lepi-
doptera: Yponomeutidae), is a cosmopolitan and oligophagous
pest of cruciferous crops (Thorsteinson, 1953; Ahmad et al., 2009).
P. xylostella is present wherever its host plants exist and is consid-
ered to be amongst the most widely distributed of all the Lepidop-
tera (Talekar and Shelton, 1993; Shelton, 2004) because of the
diversity and abundance of its host plants, lack or distribution of
its natural enemies, its high reproduction potential with up to 20
generation per year (Hui et al., 2010) and its proven ability to rapidly
evolve resistance to insecticides (Sayyed et al., 2004; Shelton, 2004).
P. xylostella attacks the crop from the nursery stage onwards causing
up to 52% loss in marketable yield in cabbage (Krishnakumar et al.,
1984; Liang et al., 2003; Shelton, 2004) while, Srinivasan (1984)
reported that 90e92% loss could occur if cabbage plants were left
unprotected and Lingappa et al. (2000) also reported that losses vary
from 30 to 100%. In India, the losses due to P. xylostella infestation is
estimated to be US$ 16 million annually in cultivated area of cabbage
of 501,700 ha (Mohan and Gujar, 2003). Outbreaks of P. xylostella in
South-East Asia sometimes have caused more than 90% crop loss
(Verkerk and Wright, 1996; Ahmad et al., 2009) and its infestation
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 9412133609 (mobile).
E-mail address: mohdsansari@yahoo.com (M.S. Ansari).
forced growers to plough down the standing crop in spite of multiple
insecticides application (Ahmad et al., 2009). Insecticide application
is the primary method of control of P. xylostella but high tolerance to
most of the insecticides and associated environmental problems
that may result in outbreaks of the pest by destruction of its natural
enemies (Kfir, 2002; Liang et al., 2003; Xu et al., 2004). These
drawbacks have increased interest of grower and consumers in
natural insecticides originating from plants. Therefore, Botanical
products are useful and desirable tools in most pest management
programs because they are effective and often non toxic to natural
enemies having low environmental impact (Schmutterer, 1995;
Haseeb et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2004).
Azadirachtin (tetranortriterpenoids) is the predominant active
insecticidal component found in neem seeds and leaves (Butterworth
and Morgan, 1968). It is the best known derivative which has been
effectively used against more than 400 species of insects (Schmutterer
and Rembold, 1980; Schmutterer, 1990; Isman, 1999; Walter, 1999;
Hasan and Ansari, 2011). This compound displays an array of effects
on insects acting as a phago and oviposition deterrent, repellent,
antifeedant, growth retardant, molting inhibitor, sterilant, and pre-
venting insect larvae from developing into adults (Schmutterer, 1990,
1995; Mordue and Blackwell, 1993). Insects from different Orders
differ markedly in their behavioural responses to azadirachtin. Lepi-
dopterans are sensitive to azadirachtin and show effective antifeeding
agent from <1 to 50 ppm, depending upon species.

0261-2194/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2011.12.010
 N. Ahmad et al. / Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24
Crop protection results from a combination of antifeedancy and
physiological effects in the phytophagous insects resulting from
ingestion of azadirachtin. These physiological effects include
secondary antifeedancy whereby feeding is reduced post-ingestively.
These “secondary” antifeedant effects include a reduction in food
consumption and digestive efficiency subsequent to, and as a conse-
quence of, ingestion, application or injection of the antifeedant
(Schmutterer, 1985).
Nutrition is an interaction between physiological processes and
ecology, so it is directly associated with natural selection as well
as the competition for food (Sheikher et al., 2001; Zhu et al., 2005;
Xue et al., 2010; Ansari et al., 2011). In many studies of insecteplant
relationships, attempts have been made to quantify the efficiency
with which insects exploit their food plants (David and Gardiner,
1962; Sheikher et al., 2001; Xue et al., 2010). The rate of food
ingestion, growth, and food utilization efficiency are important
components of herbivore performance. From a nutritional point of
view, utilization efficiency reflects the quality of food. Since it had
become clear from classical nutritional studies that the qualitative
requirements of insects do not differ fundamentally among species
(Dadd, 1985), and since the advances in photochemistry allowed
the conclusion that green plants generally contain all nutritionally
essential elements required by insects (Fraenkel, 1959; Fourche
et al., 1977).
The objective of the present study was to investigate the
effects of neem based insecticides on the biological parameters
of P. xylostella. Specifically, our focus was to understand the
feeding performance of P. xylostella on cauliflower treated with
neem based insecticides and its effects on pupal duration and
weight.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Insect rearing and experimental conditions
P. xylostella larvae of various age groups were collected in
September 2009 from a cauliflower field, Brassica olearacea var.
botrytis cultivar Pusi at the Department of Plant Protection, Aligarh
Muslim University, Aligarh, India. The larvae in a group of five were
placed in plastic cups (250 ml) over filter papers. The cups were
then placed in the growth chamber maintained at 25  2  C with
70  5% relative humidity. Five fresh cauliflower leaf discs (10 cm
diameter) were provided as food to the larvae and changed daily.
Before pupation, P. xylostella larvae were sexed as described by Liu
and Tabashnik (1997). Pupae were sorted out and kept in another
jar (10  15 cm) for emergence. Five freshly emerged adults (24 h
old) were then transferred in to glass jars (25  25 cm) provided
with 10% sugar solution soaked in cotton wick as a food for adults.
Fresh cauliflower leaf was kept in the jar for oviposition. Freshness
of the leaf was maintained by wrapping moist soil onto the petiole
then covering it with aluminium foil tied with light polythene
sheet. This was repeated up to the 3rd generation so that the insect
was acclimatized to laboratory conditions and 4th generation was
used for bioassay.
2.2. Preparation of neem insecticide concentrations
The neem insecticides used in this study were Neemazal T/S
(1% azadirachtin), Neemix (0.25% Azadirachtin) and Neemexcel
(0.15% azadirachtin). The insecticides were obtained from EID
Parry India Ltd, Certis USA and Shri Ram solvent extraction Pvt.
Ltd. Uttrakhand, India, respectively. Four concentrations (5, 10, 15
and 20 ppm) were prepared separately by adding distilled water.
Distilled water was used for the controls.
19
2.3. Bioassay
Ten leaf discs (2.5 cm) of cauliflower cultivar Pusi were soaked
into each concentration for 2 min. The treated leaf discs were then
placed on plastic foil for 30 min at room temperature and air dried
to remove excess water. For the non-treated control treatment, leaf
discs (2.5 cm) of cauliflower were dipped into distilled water and
processed in the same way on the other treatments. Impregnated
discs were then placed into plastic jars (100 ml). Five newly
moulted 4th instars (12 h old) from the stock culture were released
into each plastic jar of the respective concentrations. The plastic
jars were covered with a fine muslin cloth to avoid escape of larvae.
The jars were then placed in a chamber maintained at 25  2  C and
70  5% relative humidity for further study. Each treatment was
replicated three times. A parallel non-treated control was also run
for each treatment. Impregnated leaf discs were removed after 24-h
intervals and provided with fresh leaves for the surviving larvae up
to pupation. The larvae were checked daily to record mortality.
Dead larvae and malformed pupae were discarded. Healthy pupae
were sorted out and placed individually in plastic jars (100 ml) to
avoid unwanted mating after adult emergence. The adults from this
study were used in the following experiments to study the effect, of
neem based products at the range of concentrations tested on the
development of P. xylostella.
2.4. Development
Freshly emerged male and females obtained from the previous
study were paired and kept in a glass jar (20  15 cm) and provided
with 10% sugar solution soaked in cotton wick as food along
with fresh leaf of cauliflower for oviposition. Freshness of leaf was
maintained by wrapping moist soil on to the petiole and covers it
with aluminium foil tied with thin polythene sheet. The adults
were checked daily to record oviposition. Eggs of known age group
in batches of 10 were placed in Petri dishes over a filter paper and
replicated 10 times to make a cohort of 100. Each Petri dish was
provided with a piece of moist cotton swab to maintain adequate
humidity. Eggs were checked daily to record duration of incubation
for the four concentrations of each neem insecticide. After hatching,
the mining period of neonates was also recorded. Total time of
development of 2nd, 3rd and 4th instars for all the four concen-
trations of each neem insecticide were recorded. Transformation of
instar was confirmed by the presence of eluvium and colour of the
larvae. The experiment was replicated three times and incubated at
26  2  C, 70% RH and 12:12 L:D. These conditions were maintained
throughout of larval development. A parallel untreated control was
also run with the same number of larvae using the same methods.
2.5. Biological parameters
Freshly emerged females and males of P. xylostella obtained
from the completion of the second generation from all the four
concentrations of the above mentioned neem insecticides were
paired and one pair was kept in a glass jar (25  15 cm) and used to
make a batch of 10 pairs, replicated three times for treated and
untreated control experiments. They were provided with 10% sugar
solution soaked in a cotton wick as food along with fresh leaf of
cauliflower for oviposition. New males were released into the jars
whenever males died. Thus, each female had one male available for
mating during its life time. Eggs laid by each female were recorded
daily from the day after emergence till the death of each female. The
number of eggs was divided on the basis of a sex ratio of 1:1 to obtain
the number of female births. Other biological parameters such as
pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition periods, fecundity
and longevity of male and female adults were also observed.
20 N. Ahmad et al. / Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24

2.6. Pupal weight

Pupae were sorted out from different treatments and kept for
emergence in separate glass jars (10  10 cm). 24 h-old pupae were
collected from the walls of the rearing cages for all the respective
concentrations of neem based insecticides and were sexed as
suggested by Liu and Tabashnik (1997). After sexing, healthy male
and female pupae were selected and reared separately in batches of
10. Weights of pupae were measured using an electronic balance.
This experiment was repeated in the same way for all concentra-
tions of the respective neem based insecticides.
2.7. Nutritional indices
Newly molted fourth instars (12 h old) were picked up from the
established laboratory culture of P. xylostella and kept in groups
of 10 in 100 ml plastic jars and replicated 3 times. The larvae
were provided with cauliflower leaf treated with each of the four
concentrations of the insecticides. Treated leaves were replaced
every 24 h with a similarly treated fresh leaf. This was continued
until pupation. Daily records of the weight of the larvae, food given,
food left uneaten and faecal matter produced were maintained.
Concomitantly, a control was run daily throughout the study by
keeping weighted leaves in a Petri dish and reweighing them after
24 h to assess loss of water/moisture from the food for the purpose
of compensation of similar loss from the food offered to the larvae.
Food utilization rates were then calculated based on the following
formulas of Waldbauer (1968):
iv) Approximate digestibility (AD)
AD ¼ FI e WF/FI  100 (4)
v) Efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD)
ECD ¼ WG/FI e WF  100 (5)
Where: F ¼ fresh weight of food eaten, T ¼ duration of feeding
period (days), A ¼ mean fresh weight of larva during feeding period,
G ¼ fresh weight gain of larva during feeding period, WG ¼ weight
gained, FI ¼ weight of food ingested and WF ¼ weight of faeces.
2.8. Statistical analysis
Data obtained from the experiment of duration of larval devel-
opment were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Mean values were compared using a post hoc of Duncan’s Multiple
Range Test (DMRT). A non-parametric KruskaleWallis one way
analysis of variance was performed to detect the difference in
weight of pupae among concentrations of neem based insecticides
and the untreated control. Furthermore, two sample t-tests were
performed to detect the weight of male and female pupa on various
concentrations of neem insecticides. All statistical analysis was
done using the language program R developed by core Team ‘‘R
2.10.1’’unless stated otherwise.

i) Consumption index (CI) 3. Results

CI ¼ F/TA (1) 3.1. Development

Neem based insecticides significantly prolonged the develop-

ii) Relative growth rate (RGR)
ment of P. xylostella (Table 1). It was also observed that development
was concentration dependent. Incubation period of P. xylostella eggs
RGR ¼ G/TA (2)
was significantly prolonged (P < 0.05) in Neemazal treatment at
20 ppm as compared to other neem based insecticides tested i.e.
iii) Efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) Neemix (F ¼ 2.5; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) and Neemexcel (F ¼ 0.28;
df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) and untreated control (F ¼ 20.29; df ¼ 4, 14;
ECI ¼ WG/FI  100 (3) P < 0.05). Larval period was prolonged in neemazal 20 and 15 ppm.

Table 1
Effects of neem based insecticides on the development of P. xylostella.

Conc.(ppm) Days

Egg L1 L2 L3 L4 PP P Immature
stages

Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE

Neemix
20 5.13 0.289a 4.61 0.231a 4.26 0.176a 4.08 0.165a 5.92 0.346a 1.46 0.031a 6.81 0.404a 32.27 1.150a
15 4.37 0.203b 4.23 0.173b 4.07 0.113a 3.84 0.144a 5.21 0.294b 1.13 0.024b 6.07 0.301a 28.92 0.866b
10 3.62 0.173c 4.09 0.116bc 3.81 0.092b 3.54 0.123a 4.92 0.231b 1.05 0.019b 5.29 0.253b 26.32 0.751b
5 3.26 0.116c 3.71 0.087c 3.24 0.069c 3.16 0.071b 4.59 0.186c 0.97 0.016bc 4.58 0.184b 23.51 0.693c
Neemazal
20 5.47 0.304a 4.95 0.267a 4.56 0.217a 4.32 0.206a 6.17 0.389a 1.52 0.035a 7.43 0.523a 34.42 1.420a
15 4.94 0.245b 4.59 0.231a 4.18 0.138a 4.02 0.189a 5.65 0.327a 1.27 0.029b 6.37 0.434a 31.02 1.090a
10 4.01 0.213c 4.28 0.194b 3.94 0.109b 3.67 0.174b 5.03 0.263b 1.13 0.023b 5.73 0.303b 27.79 0.874b
5 3.68 0.201d 3.98 0.111b 3.41 0.078c 3.32 0.096b 4.72 0.197b 1.04 0.018c 4.81 0.214b 24.96 0.726b
Neemexcel
20 4.81 0.263a 4.19 0.212a 4.01 0.159a 3.94 0.152a 5.12 0.281a 1.28 0.027a 6.73 0.392a 30.16 1.070a
15 4.29 0.204b 4.02 0.157a 3.81 0.102a 3.52 0.131b 4.77 0.256a 1.15 0.022b 6.15 0.347a 27.71 0.796a
10 3.91 0.165b 3.81 0.106a 3.47 0.084b 3.36 0.114b 4.35 0.212b 1.07 0.020b 5.49 0.278b 25.46 0.714b
5 3.24 0.110c 3.46 0.077a 3.18 0.062b 3.09 0.066c 4.13 0.167b 1.01 0.016c 4.42 0.176c 22.53 0.643c
Control 3.02 0.058c 3.11 0.063a 2.79 0.053c 2.66 0.049d 3.28 0.068c 0.76 0.013d 3.21 0.087d 18.83 0.577d

Within column, means followed the same letters are not significantly different according to Duncan’s multiple range tests (P  0.05) (L1eL4 representing the larval duration;
PP- Preupal; P- Pupa).
 N. Ahmad et al. / Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24 21

These values were significantly different as compared to untreated
control (F ¼ 2.37; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) and other neem based
insecticides i.e. Neemix (F ¼ 32.04; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) and Nee-
mexcel (F ¼ 20.29; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05). Data (Table 1) also showed
that pupal period was significantly higher in neemazal at 20 ppm as
compared to untreated control (F ¼ 0.37; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05).
However, the mean value of pupal period in Neemazal at 20 ppm
was not significant as compared to 15 ppm. The overall develop-
ment period of P. xylostella was significantly prolonged in Neemazal
at 20 ppm as compared to untreated control and other Neemazal
concentrations tested (F ¼ 0.07; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) except 15 ppm.
Data (Table 1) clarify that the higher concentration i.e. 20 and
15 ppm of neem based insecticides significantly increased the
developmental time as compared to untreated control (Neemix*
untreated control - F ¼ 0.29; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05; Neemazal*
untreated control - F ¼ 0.07; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05; Neemexcel*
untreated control - F ¼ 0.13; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) (Table 1).
3.2. Biological parameters
The perusal of data presented in Table 2 indicated that a pro-
longed pre-oviposition period (1.64 days) was observed at 20 ppm
of Neemazal. This value did not differ significantly from the value
obtained at 15 ppm of Neemazal. However, this value was signifi-
cantly greater than untreated control (F ¼ 0.27; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.68)
and also found a significantly greater than those of Neemix
(F ¼ 0.31; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.74) and Neemexcel (F ¼ 0.43; df ¼ 4, 14;
P < 0.519). The oviposition period of P. xylostella was significantly
shorter in Neemazal at 20 ppm than the untreated control and other
concentrations tested except 15 ppm (F ¼ 0.24; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.79).
Generally, it was observed that the value of oviposition period at 20
and 15 ppm did not significantly differ in any of the neem based
insecticides. However, the duration of the oviposition period at 20
and 15 ppm of neem based insecticides was significantly shorter
than those for other concentrations and control (Neemix* untreated
control - F ¼ 0.82; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.82; F ¼ 0.24; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.79;
Neemexcel* untreated control - F ¼ 0.16; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.89). The
post-oviposition period was also shortest (1.97 days) for Neemazal
at 20 ppm, which was significantly different from the untreated
control and other concentrations (F ¼ 4.12; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.09)
(Table 2). It was also observed from the data (Table 2) that female
longevity was longer than male longevity. Female survival was
significantly prolonged in neemazal at 20 ppm (F ¼ 0.34; df ¼ 4, 14;
P < 0.76) as compared to male (F ¼ 1.72; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.213).
Fecundity of P. xylostella was inversely proportional to the concen-
tration of neem insecticides. The fecundity was lower (41 eggs/
female/generation) at 20 ppm of Neemazal. This value was signifi-
cantly lower than that of the control and other concentrations
tested (F ¼ 0.08; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.90) (Table 2).
3.3. Pupal weight
Data illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 revealed that female pupae
of P. xylostella were significantly heavier than male (KruskaleWallis
one way analysis of variance, Neemix - H ¼ 22.58; df ¼ 4; P ¼ 0.05;
Neemazal - H ¼ 22.58; df ¼ 4; P < 0.05; Neemexcel - H ¼ 22.36;
df ¼ 4; P ¼ 0.05) for male pupae (Fig. 1) and (Neemix - H ¼ 22.49;
df ¼ 4; P ¼ 0.05; Neemazal - H ¼ 22.89; df ¼ 4; P < 0.05; Neemexcel -
H ¼ 22.36; df ¼ 4; P ¼ 0.05) for female pupae (Fig. 2). It was also
observed that the higher concentration (i.e. 20 ppm) of neem
insecticides significantly reduced the weight of male and female
pupae (t ¼ 1.58; df ¼ 3; P < 0.20) (Fig. 2).
3.4. Nutritional indices
The data in Table 3 indicated that neem insecticides have
significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the value of nutritional indices.
Generally, it was observed that the higher concentrations (i.e. 20
and 15 ppm) significantly affected the relative growth rate (RGR),
consumption index (CI), approximate digestibility (AD %), efficiency
of conversion of ingested food (ECI %) and efficiency of conversion
of digested food (ECD %). Among three neem based insecticides,
Neemazal 20 and 15 ppm proved to be the most effective treatments
and hence, significantly reduced the value of RGR (F ¼ 0.58; df ¼ 4,
14; P < 0.59), CI (F ¼ 0.46; df ¼ 4,14; P < 0.65), AD (%) (F ¼ 3.03;
df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.11), ECI (%) (F ¼ 13.20; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.05) and ECD
(%) (F ¼ 1.87; df ¼ 4, 14; P < 0.22).
4. Discussion
Development of P. xylostella was considerably be affected by the
neem insecticides. Development time was increased with increase

Table 2
Effects of neem based insecticides on the biological parameters of P. xylostella.

Conc.(ppm) Days

POP OP PtOP Fecundity Longevity

Female Male

Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE

Neemix
20 1.61 0.046a 4.09 0.058c 2.03 0.040d 43 1.73e 7.73 0.116c 7.62 0.087d
15 1.48 0.035b 4.36 0.070c 2.24 0.052d 56 2.31d 8.08 0.144b 7.81 0.166d
10 1.32 0.029c 4.78 0.087b 2.58 0.058c 65 2.89c 8.68 0.173b 8.53 0.133c
5 1.19 0.023d 5.11 0.116a 3.19 0.087b 77 3.46b 9.49 0.231a 9.27 0.156b
Neemazal
20 1.64 0.058a 4.02 0.055c 1.97 0.037e 41 1.66d 7.63 0.112d 7.58 0.082c
15 1.52 0.041a 4.26 0.074c 2.19 0.056d 52 2.23c 7.97 0.149c 7.81 0.171b
10 1.35 0.031b 4.61 0.083b 2.52 0.054c 63 2.78c 8.48 0.167c 7.98 0.121b
5 1.23 0.026b 4.95 0.109b 3.11 0.082b 75 3.32b 9.29 0.224b 8.21 0.123b
Neemexcel
20 1.54 0.041a 4.31 0.065c 2.11 0.045d 54 1.87c 7.96 0.127c 7.85 0.104d
15 1.41 0.029b 4.49 0.076b 2.35 0.059d 66 2.68c 8.25 0.157b 8.03 0.174a
10 1.26 0.25c 4.91 0.093b 2.65 0.065c 78 3.51b 8.82 0.181b 8.74 0.145c
5 1.12 0.020d 5.24 0.122a 3.28 0.098b 87 3.91b 9.64 0.243a 9.41 0.168b
Control 1.08 0.017d 5.38 0.144a 3.71 0.116a 134 5.7a 10.17 0.289a 9.98 0.173a

Within column, means followed the same letters are not significantly different according to Duncan’s multiple range tests (P  0.05) (POP- Pre-oviposition period;
OP- Oviposition period; PtOP- Post-oviposition period).
22 N. Ahmad et al. / Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24

e
a

7.6
d

7.4
c

7.2
b

7.0
a

6.8
A B C D E
e
b

6.8
d
c

6.6
b

6.4

a
6.2

Fig. 1. Weight of male pupa of P. xylostella at various concentrations of neem insec-

ticides (a) NeemAzal, (b) Neemix and (c) Neemexel i.e. (A) 20 ppm (B) 15 ppm (C)
10 ppm (D) 5 ppm and (E) untreated control. (In a box plot, the thick line shows the
median, error bars show maximum and minimum samples and upper and lower A B C D E
boundaries show upper and lower quartiles, respectively.) e
7.8

c
of concentration and was found to be concentration dependent in d
the present study. Similarly, Stark and Wennergren (1995) reported
7.6

that survivorship of nymphs and adults of the aphid Acyrthosiphon c

pisum (Harris) treated with Morgosan-O were reduced in
7.4

a concentration dependent manner.

Larval development time was significantly prolonged by
b
the application of neem based insecticides. The slower rate of
7.2

development and failure to moult has been previously reported for a

P. xylostella treated with neem extracts (Schmutterer, 1990; Isman,
1995; Liang et al., 2003), as well for other insects (Isman et al., 1990;
7.0

Hasan and Ansari, 2011). Results from our study confirm that all
three neem insecticides at the higher concentrations (i.e. 15 and
20 ppm) have a severe impact on the ability of P. xylostella to moult.
Moulting disruption at the time of pupation is perhaps the most
important physiological effect of neem that has been observed in
Lepidoptera, with larvae failing to initiate the larval-larval and
larval-pupal moult (Schmutterer, 1995).
Similarly, these three neem insecticides affected the biological
parameters of P. xylostella. The highest concentration of neem
insecticides caused the prolongation of pre-oviposition, oviposition,
and post-oviposition periods of P. xylostella. It also significantly
reduced the fecundity and longevity of adults. Similar findings on
P. xylostella were previously noticed by several workers (Schmutterer,
1990; Isman, 1995; Liang et al., 2003) and on Pieris brassicae (Linn.)
(Hasan and Ansari, 2011).
The fecundity of P. xylostella was reduced in a concentration
dependent manner from 5 to 20 ppm of neem insecticides in
the present study. Karnavar (1987) also reported that azadirachtin
affected the ovarian development, fecundity and fertility. Fecundity
was progressively decreased with increasing concentrations of
azadirachtin (Pineda et al., 2009). A. pisum exposed to Morgosan-O
as neonates underwent a huge decrease in the fecundity rates and
A B C D E
Concentrations
Fig. 2. Weight of female pupa of P. xylostella at various concentrations of neem
insecticides (a) NeemAzal, (b) Neemix and (c) Neemexel i.e. (A) 20 ppm (B) 15 ppm (C)
10 ppm (D) 5 ppm and (E) untreated control. (In a box plot, the thick line shows the
median, error bars show maximum and minimum samples and upper and lower
boundaries show upper and lower quartiles, respectively.)
became zero after exposure to higher than 40 ppm. For aphids
exposed as adults, the fecundity was reduced in a concentration
dependent manner and greatly reduced to 20% for an exposure to
100 ppm compared with a maximum fecundity of 90% for the control
(Stark and Wennergren, 1995). While, spinosad caused an increased
fecundity in Orious insidiosus (Say) (Elzen, 2001). One possible
explanation for this finding was that the surviving individuals
maintained high reproductive rates which could have allowed them
to compensate for losses and act as reservoirs for future reproduc-
tion (Walthall and Stark, 1996).
 N. Ahmad et al. / Crop Protection 34 (2012) 18e24 23

Table 3
Effects of neem based insecticides on nutritional indices of P. xylostella.

Cons (ppm) RGR CI AD(%) ECI (%) ECD (%)

Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE

Neemix
20 0.17 5.83b 0.56 0.011c 44.44 0.116b 34.41 0.235d 57.46 0.236c
15 0.18 5.83b 0.59 0.013b 44.75 0.145b 35.15 0.601c 58.19 0.290c
10 0.19 5.96b 0.61 0.017b 45.01 0.173b 35.75 0.318c 58.69 0.351b
5 0.21 0.01ab 0.65 0.020b 45.49 0.238b 36.82 0.346b 59.97 0.413b
Neemazal
20 0.16 4.38c 0.54 0.010c 46.25 0.186b 28.23 0.128e 63.2 0.326d
15 0.17 5.61c 0.56 0.011c 46.31 0.195b 29.34 0.137d 65.46 0.357c
10 0.19 5.87b 0.59 0.015b 46.51 0.209b 29.95 0.146c 66.20 0.516c
5 0.21 0.01b 0.62 0.018b 47.1 0.279a 31.23 0.193b 67.69 0.632b
Neemexcel
20 0.18 5.83c 0.57 0.013c 44.64 0.121d 29.69 0.133c 66.35 0.456b
15 0.18 5.87c 0.60 0.016bc 45.27 0.165c 30.27 0.145b 66.51 0.478b
10 0.20 0.009b 0.63 0.019b 45.36 0.187c 30.33 0.158b 66.54 0.539b
5 0.21 0.012b 0.66 0.020b 45.94 0.256b 30.89 0.165b 66.77 0.583b
Control 0.25 0.018a 0.78 0.024a 47.38 0.723a 37.49 0.409a 69.25 0.824a

Within column, means followed the same letters are not significantly different according to Duncan’s multiple range tests (P  0.05) (RGR- Relative growth rate,
CI- Consumption index, AD- Approximate digestibility, ECI- Efficiency of conversion of ingestibility, ECD- Efficiency of conversion of digestibility).

The resulting pupal weight of P. xylostella that obtained from
neem insecticides was found to be significantly lower than the
control, which could be explained by reduced feeding. Results from
the consumption and utilization of food showed that significantly
less food was consumed by the larvae on the cauliflower treated with
neem insecticides than on the control plants. Reduced feeding has
been reported for P. xylostella exposed to cabbage treated with neem
preparation (Perera et al., 2000) and for P. xylostella feeding on
Chinese kale treated with fruit extracts from a syringe (Chen et al.,
1996). In the study by Chen et al. (1996) the syringe fruit extract
caused high mortality at all doses tested. However, at low doses
feeding activity was not reduced on the first day when larvae were
exposed to the treated plants. This led the author to conclude that the
extract was effective as a growth inhibitor rather than an antifeedant
but reduced feeding activity was observed at higher concentration.
This study showed that Neemazal (15 and 20 ppm) has signifi-
cantly reduced fecundity, pupal weight and other biological param-
eters and perhaps more importantly reduced the feeding damage by
larval stages of P. xylostella as compared to Neemix and Neemexcel.
Hence, it is concluded that application of Neemazal prolonged the
survival, development time and generation time. Thus, P. xylostella
larvae and pupae will be subjected to be attacked by natural enemies
for a longer time. It may also be incorporated in IPM of P. xylostella on
cauliflower because neem based insecticides have been found to
have little impact on beneficial parasites and predators of P. xylostella.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from UGC, New Delhi, India is gratefully
acknowledged. We are thankful to three anonymous reviewers for
reviewing the early version of this manuscript. We are also grateful
to Dr. Jerry Cross for his useful comments during the review process.
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