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Ethnobotanical Leaflets 14: 479-90, 2010. Biocidal
Activities of Some Tropical Moss Extracts Against Maize Stem Borers 1Ande, A. T*., 1Wahedi, J. A., and 2Fatoba,
P. O. 1Department of
Zoology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria E-mail:
andeolu@yahoo.com 2Department of
Plant Biology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria E-mail:
pofatoba57@yahoo.com Issued
April 1, 2010 Abstract Solutions
of four moss powders, namely: Calymperes afzelii Sw., Thuidium gratum (P. Beauv.) Jaeg., Bryum coronatum Schwaegr. and Barbula lambarenensis (Hook) Spreng.,
were evaluated for insecticidal activity against maize stem borers. The
aqueous solutions were smeared periodically on mature maize plants in the
field. All mosses tested showed some toxic activity against the established
maize stem borers, deterrence regarding further infestation and some
influence on the distribution of the borers. C. afzelii and B. coronatum showed encouraging toxic
activities, deterrent activities and promptness that were better or just as
good as with Tricel, the control inorganic
insecticide. The order of activity of the moss solutions was C. afzelii>
B. coronatum
>T. gratum= B. lambarenensis.
The incidence of stem borer in the most preferred internode,
i.e. III, was reduced significantly by C.
afzelii, T.
gratum and
B. coronatum treatments, while B. lambarenensis
like, Tricel, restricted the incidence of borer
holes to internodes III and IV. The advantages proffered by the window of
utilizing mosses as pesticide, namely: availability, safety, low cost, ease
of application, as well as, the disadvantages, i.e. laborious serial
repetitions, was highlighted. Key
words: Mosses, Bio pesticides, Maize, Stem borer. Introduction Maize,
Zea mays, a
principal source of human and livestock dietary carbohydrate and industrial
substrate (Arannilewa, 2007), faces considerable
challenges occasioned by insect pest activities on the field and in storage.
Stem borers constitute a major insect pest of maize on the field. Maes (1998) listed 28 stem borer species of which Buseola fusca
Fuller, Sesamia calamistis Hampson and Eldana saccharina Walker are most prominent. They attack
young maize plants by boring into the stems causing lodging, dead heart, tunnelling and girdling that may cause stem breakage (Kfir, 2000). Yield losses occasioned by stem borer
infestation have been reported to range from 10 to 100% in South Western
Nigeria (Usua 1968) and the damage escalates with
the late season crop (Adeyemi et al., 1996; IITA, 1986; Mutsaers,
1991). Enhancing maize productivity on the field, therefore requires the
control of stem borer activities.
Various control tactics have been employed. The most popular being the
chemical method which relies heavily on the use of synthetic insecticide and
fumigants. This unfortunately is costly, toxic to its users, presents
undesirable effects on non-target organisms, aids development of resistant
strains and are generally not environmentally friendly (Jembere
et al.,1995; Okonkwo
and Okoye,1996). Bio pesticides, on the other hand, are known to be more
environmentally safe, users and consumers friendly and specific with broad
spectrum bioactivity. Sourcing of promising bio pesticide principles against
insect pests from plants has over the years become quite popular (Anon,
1991). Neem derivatives for instance have been
effective in control of stem borers (Aliniazee et al., 1997; Kumar and Bhatt, 1999; Ganguli and Ganguli, 1998; Bhanukiran and Panwar, 2000). Water extract of fresh neem leaves gave
a good control of maize stem borer when applied into the plant whorls in
Mozambique (Segenren,
1993).
A disproportionately higher attention has been given to spermatophytes,
despite the well
documented bactericidal, insecticidal, antiviral and fungicidal activities of bryophytes (Banerjee and Sen, 1979; Ando
and Matsuo, 1984; Hans et al.,
1988; Fatoba
et al., 2003). Seigler (1998) excused this on the
presence of secondary metabolites in the
mosses. An attempt to investigate four common tropical
mosses, viz: Calymperes afzelii, Thuidium gratum, Bryum coronatum
and Barbula lambarenensis,
for biocidal activities against maize stem borers
is reported for the first time. Materials
and Methods Fresh
samples of four mosses, i.e. Calymperes afzelii Sw., Thuidium gratum (P.
Beauv.) Jaeg.and
Bryum coronatum Schwaegr.
were collected from their natural populations on oil palm trees on the main
campus of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria, while Barbula lambarenensis (Hook) Spreng.
was collected on the surface of a concrete slab on the main campus of the
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. The specimens were identified at the
Herbarium of the Plant Biology Department of University of Ilorin. All the
four specimens were air-dried separately in a dark cupboard to a constant
weight. Each was subsequently pulverised using an
electric blender and each powder was stored in a dark screw cap bottle. Tricel (Chlorpyriphos, 48%,
E.C) a synthetic insecticide procured from an Agro-Chemical store in A clean farm land monocropped
with maize, located behind the stadium on the main campus of University of
Ilorin was used for the bioassay. Twenty four 2m X 2m plots, each consisting
of 4 maize plant stands, were mapped out on the farm land. Four replicate plots were assigned to each
of the moss and the two control treatments in a completely randomised design. Weeding, fertilizer application and
other farm management practices were applied uniformly across the plots. Ground
powder aqueous solution of each of the four test mosses were constituted by
dissolving 5g of the dry pulverized moss sample in 100cm3 of
distilled water and stirring vigorously. Treated control solution, i.e. Tricel, was constituted as 5% v/v of distilled water.
Distilled water was employed as the untreated control. The respective solutions were smeared on the surface of 2 months old maize plant shoots with the aid of a paint brush. The application was repeated at 3 day interval for three weeks with newly constituted solution each time. The incidence of borer holes per plot was noted prior to solution application and subsequently before repeating the application, by direct inspection of the maize stems for borer holes. The total number of borer holes noticed was recorded per plot on each inspection and the affected internode noted. Internode on each maize plant stand was tagged I, II, III, and IV starting from the base. Mean stem borer holes were calculated from values recorded from the four replicates and recorded as X ± SD. An attempt was made to determine the living status of the borer at the end of the experiment by opening up the stem carefully to expose the borer. The number of dead stem borer per plot was noted and mean mortality rate per treatment calculated. Additional borer holes noted after the previous borer hole reading was regarded as new recruitments within 3 days of treatment. Mean recruitment rate per plot was calculated as the average of the additional borer holes per plot, and mean recruitment rate/treatment/3 days was calculated as the mean of the seven successive recruitment rates recorded every 3 days of treatment. Values obtained for the various treatments were compared statistically using ANOVA. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results and Discussion The successive incidence of borer
holes on 2 month old maize plant stands in the various treatments plans are as
shown in Table 1. The mean number of borer holes on the untreated maize plant
stands increased steadily from 2.00±1.63 to 6.00±3.16 during the three weeks
of application. Tricel (control) was prompt and
effective, as it prevented increase in stem borer holes after the third
application. All the moss treatments stalled the increase of borer holes
completely by the third or fourth application. The performance of C. afzelii was better than Tricel(Control) as it was effective by the second
application. T. gratum
and B. lambarenensis
delayed activity until after the fourth application. The third application of
B. coronatum gave
the desired effectiveness thus making it as active as Tricel. The total number of stem borers
recruited during the three weeks of exposure to the various treatments (Table
2) showed that all moss treatments and Tricel
recruited encouragingly lower stem borers than the 16 recorded with distilled
water control treatment. C. afzelii recruited
the lowest number of stem borers, i.e. 2, Tricel
and B. coronatum
recruited 3 and 4, respectively, while B.
lambarenensis and T. gratum treatments recruited
relatively higher numbers of 6 and 7, respectively. As expected, the mean
number of recruitments per plot followed the same trend, A statistical comparison
of the respective values however, showed that C. afzelii, Tricel
and B. coronatum
recruitments were not significantly different (P>0.05) from one another,
but significantly lower (P<0.05) than recruitments of B. lambarenensis and T. gratum
that were not significantly different P>0.05).The mean three-day
recruitment rate was generally low and conformed with the trend of
recruitments. All the mosses and Tricel control
treatments recorded a mean recruitment rate of less than 0.3 borer holes in
three days as against approximately 2.0 with untreated control. Stem borer mortality (Table 2) was
generally quite high as 54.17% was noticed on the untreated maize stands.
There was, however, an evidence of improved mortality with all the mosses and
Tricel treatments.
A distinctly higher mortality of 80% was noticed with C. afzelii,
while B. coronatum
and Tricel gave a comparable mortality values
control of about 77%, and T. gratum and B. lambarenensis recorded lower but comparable values of
about 65%. Table 3 shows that stem borer hole
distribution is generally restricted to the internodes II, III and IV, but
more readily found on III. This was
the case with C. afzelii,
T. gratum and B. coronatum
treatments, but the numbers recorded were distinctly lower than untreated
control. Tricel and B. lambarenensis, however, deterred the
occurrence of borer holes on internode II but internode III still had a relatively higher number of
holes than II. Only the numbers noticed on internodes III showed
significantly different (P<0.05) means, with the untreated control mean,
i.e. 4.00±1.63, being higher than the mean numbers recorded with moss and Tricel treatments . The
application of moss extracts onto the surface of a mature maize plant
improved stem borer mortality, reduced their incidence and recruitment and
affected their distribution on the maize plant stands. Similar trends were reported when neem based extracts were applied against Chilo partellus, a
maize stem borer (Segenren, 1993; Ganguli and Ganguli, 1998; Bhanukiran and Panwar, 2000).
Moss extracts also gave commendable and encouraging productive effects when
applied to cowpea on the field (Fatoba and Akolo, In press). The promptness of the moss extracts in
this case is particularly note worthy , as C. afzelii acted faster, and B. coronatum
provided the desired action at the same time duration as Tricel,
a synthetic inorganic insecticide. The order of promptness was C. afzelii>
B. coronatum=
Tricel >T.
gratum=
B. lambarenensis. Also evident was the repulsive
activities of all the mosses tested. The sharp drop in the recruitment rates
could only be due to a deterrent informed by the presence of the mosses, just
as the case was with Tricel. In this case too C. afzelii
was better than Tricel and B. coronatum were just equally
effective. Although mortality was
generally high, the mosses no doubt had an impact on the mortality of the
stem borers with a minimum of 63.64 % recorded with B. lambarenensis as against 54.17% in
untreated control. Again C. afzelii was more toxic to the stem borers than Tricel, while B. coronatum had a comparable level of toxicity. The use
of moss extract did not influence the preference of the stem borers for internode III. It however reduced the numbers
significantly especially with C. afzelii, T. gratum and B. coronatum treatments. B. lambarenensis like Tricel restricted the incidence of borer holes to
internodes III and IV. The
moss extracts tested, i.e. C. afzelii, B. coronatum, T. gratum and B.
lambarenensis
being bio pesticides are safe and environmentally friendly. They are
readily found in the guinea savannah and forest belt of Nigeria. They, for
now, do not enjoy any other known economic use and so will be relatively
cheap and available. Channelling this important
flora resource as effective bio pesticide will no doubt confer an economic
advantage to maize production especially the late maize. The ease of
application, i.e. smearing on maize plant stands and the safety to the
applicant also gives the treatment credence. The repetitive and serial
application on each plant stand may be tedious and impracticable. A more practicable regime of application is
therefore desired if the mode is to be adopted for stem borer control. In conclusion, moss extracts no doubt holds some promise
in respect of the control of stem borer infestation on maize. The fact that
they are prompt, toxic, cheap, readily available and environmentally friendly
make them good candidates for further investigation as stem borer deterrents. References Adeyemi,
S. A. O., Donelly, J. and Odetoyinbo,
J. A. (1996). Studies on chemical control of the stem borer of maize. Nigerian Agricultural Journal 3:61-66. Aliniazee
, M.T., Alhumeyri, A. and Saeed,
M. (1997). Laboratory and field evaluation of a neem
insecticide against Archips rosanus L. (Lepidoptera:Tortricidae). Canadian Entomol.,
129:27-33. Ando,
H. and Matsuo, A. (1984). Applied Biology. Advances in Bryology. 2 : 133-224. Anon.
(1991). Recommendations of the symposium on resources for sustainable
agriculture: The use of neem and other plant
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Congress (Honolulu: East West Centre). pp 1-11. Arannilewa,
S. T. (2007). A simple laboratory pre-screen for plants with grain protectant effects against the maize weevil; Sitophilus zeamais (Mots.) (Coleoptera: curculionidea). Agricultural
Journal 2(6): 736-739. Banerjee,
R.D. and Sen, S.P. (1979). Antibiotic activity of
bryophytes. The Bryologist, 82: 141-153. Bhanukiran,
Y. and Panwar, V.P.S. (2000). In vitro efficacies of neem products on
the larvae of maize stalk borer Chilo partellus (Swin.). Ann. Pl. Protect. Sci., 8 : 240-242. Fatoba, P. O., Omojasola,
P. F., Awe, S and Ahmed F. G. (2003). Phytochemical
screening of some selected tropical mosses. NISEB Journal, 3(2):
49-52. Fatoba,
P. O. and Akolo, R. In press. The effects of some
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R.N. and Ganguli, J. (1998). Residual toxicity of
insecticides and neem based formulations against Chilo partellus (Swin.) infesting maize. Indian J. Agric. Res, 32:227-232. Hans, D., Zinsmeister, A. and Rudigermus,
L. (1988). Bryophytes as a reservoir
of remarkable secondary components. A plant research and development. German Contributions and Developments Via
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28. IITA
(1986). Maize Research program. International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture, Annual Report for 1986.IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. Jembere,
B., Obeng-Ofori, D., Hassanali,
A., Nyamasoyo, G.N.N. (1995). Products derived from
the leaves of Ocimum kilimandscharicum
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R. 2000. Seasonal occurrence, parasitoids and parthogens
of the African stem borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Nuctuidae),
on cereal crops in South Africa. Afr. Entomol. 2:1-14. Kumar,
S. and Bhatt, R.I. 1999. Field
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Allelopathy J., 6:271-276. Maes.
K. 1998. Pyraloidea: Crambidea,
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E.U. and Okoye, W.I. 1996. The efficacy of four
seed powders and the essential oils as protectants
of cowpea and maize grains against infestation by Callosobruchus maculatus (Fibricius) (Coleoptera:Bruchidae)
and Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Segenren,
P. 1993. Pesticidus natuais:
uma alternativa para U sector
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e a extensao rural, 12: 34-38- Centro do farmacao Agraria e de Desenvolvimento Rural Maputo, Mocambique. Seigler, D. J. 1998. Plants with saponins and cardiac glycosides. www. Life.VinC. Edu/ plant
bio/363/saponin slides Usua,
E.J. 1968. The biology and ecology of Busseola fusca and Sesamia species
in South-western Nigeria: Distribution and population studies. Journal of Economic Entomology 61:830-833. Table 1: Incidence of borer holes
on maize stands per plot.
Values are means of four replicates Table
2: Stem borer recruitment and mortality features on maize plant stands
treated with four different types of moss extracts and Tricel.
Values are
means of four replicates; * are total for four replicates
Means carrying
the same superscript along rows are not significantly different at P=0.05 Table 3: Stem
borer distribution on the internodes of maize plant stands treated with four
different types of moss extracts and Tricel.
Values are means of four
replicates Means carrying the same
superscript along columns are not significantly different at P=0.05 |
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