Agriculture & Food, Volume 10, 2022

Abstract: The world widespread North American native subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes Kollar (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) is one the major biotic agents which damage wood and a severe pest in several countries, where it causes important economic losses and has strong economic and social impacts. In urban environments this termite is a pest that damage houses and wooden structures, generating considerable losses. In central Chile there have been foci of infestation with a big expansion in the last years. This study evaluated in laboratory the repellence effect of extracts from Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) unripe fruits onto R. flavipes workers. The extracts were elaborated from two solvents, distilled water, and ethanol. The repellence effect was determined by a direct selection test, in which termites in contact with extract treated or untreated filter paper disks were evaluated, and the results were subjected to comparison paired tests. The extracts from the unripe fruits of M. azedarach were effective as a repellent against R. flavipes workers, with the greatest repellence at the greatest concentrations (3.0, 5.6, 7.4, and 5.4, 7.5, 10.1% w/v for the ethanol and water extracts, respectively), with stronger effects of the ethanol than the water extract. The results demonstrate the repellence effectiveness of these extracts from M. azedarach onto R. flavipes, thus unripe fruits of this tree species could be considered in biopesticide preparation for integrated management of this pest, which also requires field evaluation and economic study.