Efficiency of Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia scoparia essential oils on nutritional indices of Tribolium castaneum (col: Tenebrionidae)

Efficiency of essential oils from Artemisia sieberi Besserand A. scoparia Waldst et Kiton nutritional indices of Tribolium castaneum Herbst was tested in this study. Several experiments were designed to measure the indices such as relative growth rate (RGR), relative consumption rate (RCR), efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) and feeding deterrent index (FDI). Treatments were evaluated by the method of flour disk bioassay in the dark, at 27 ±1 0C and 65 ±5% R. H. Several concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 2 mL/disk were prepared from each essential oil and 10 adult insects were introduced into each treatment. Then, ingested food and weight gained were measured three days later. Results showed that A. sieberi oil was highly effective compared to A. scoparia, and significantly decreased the RGR and RCR. Moreover, in higher concentration (2 mL/disk), the ECI (9.81%) was significantly low. The A. sieberi oil was more effective on FDI than A. scoparia.