BIOASSAY OF FICUS SYCOMORUS LEAF EXTRACT ON FALLARMY WORM, SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA (J. E. SMITH) (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE)

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important annual cereal crop of the world belonging to the order Poales, family Poaceae, genus Zea and species Zea mays. Pests and diseases are the major constrains of agriculture which cause great loss of produce both at field and storage leading to food shortage. The fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an insect from the Order Lepidoptera Family Noctuidae, Genus Spodoptera and Species frugiperda. The insect poses a great threat to food production due its devastating nature leading to loss of yield and quality of crops especially maize. The aim of the research was to determine the lethal effect of Ficus sycomorus leaf extracts on Spodoptera frugiperda larvae. The experiments were conducted at the Pathology Laboratory, Department of Plant Biology, Bayero University Kano. A complete randomized design was used to carry out the bioassay with three different fractions from N- Hexane, N- Butanol and Ethyl acetate at three concentrations, 200 mg/ml, 300 mg/ml and 500 mg/ml, a positive and negative controls that is Lambda cyhalothrin 2 ml/Land distilled water respectively, with three replications. It was found that highest activities of 70 to 100% mortalities were recorded on larvae treated with N- hexane fractions within four days after treatment, followed by N-Butanol fractions, while ethyl acetated fractions had the least activities. Ficus sycomorus was observed to be a good candidate for use as organic pesticide. Isolation and testing different active compounds of Ficus sycomorus on the insect is therefore recommended.