Abstract

One of the most studied plant species with insecticidal properties is the castor beanRicinus communis. However, its activity against Spodoptera frugiperda is unclear. Therefore, to determinate the insecticidal and insectistatic activities of methanol, hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of the seeds and leaves of R. communis, castor oil and ricinine were tested at different concentrations against S. frugiperda. This study demonstrated for the first time, that the castor oil and ricinine are active ingredients of R. communis that acts against S. frugiperda and that each of the seed extracts exhibited better insecticidal and insectistatic activity than the leaf extracts. The half maximum larvae viability concentration (LVC₅₀) were 0.38 × 10³mg ml^-1 for the ricinine, 0.75 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for a methanol extract of seeds, 1.97 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for an ethyl acetate seed extract, 2.69×10³ mg ml^-1 for the castor oil, 4.83 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for a methanol extract of leaves, 5.07 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for an ethyl acetate extract of leaves, 9.95 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for a hexane extract of seeds and 10.01 × 10³ mg ml^-1 for a hexane extract of leaves.

Key words: Ricinus communis, Spodoptera frugiperda, insecticidal, insectistatic, castor oil, ricinine.