Albacete, Victoria Marcela F.; Cordero, Anne Margaret P.; Fermin, Aileen Jeanelle T. (March 2007)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
The effectiveness of using the seed extracts of a natural insecticide, Neem (Azadirachta indica), on the reproductive capacity in insects modeled by the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that infest fruit trees was tested. A pair of fruit fly was placed in each of the sixteen jars containing food supplement, and 5 ml of 10% stock solution of the extracts was added to four jars during the fertilized egg (24 h after pairing) or to the next four jars during the first instar (48 h after pairing) stages. Only distilled water was added to the rest of the eight as control group. Emerged flies from these jars subsequently became parent stocks which were crossed as to treated or untreated during the fertilized egg or first instar stages Results showed that a comparable number of flies emerged from the jars whether these were treated (3/4) or not (2/4) with neem seed extracts during the fertilized egg stage In contrast, emerged flies were observed only in jars that were not treated with the extracts during the first instar stage (3/4). When these flies were crossed, emerged flies were noted only in jars when both parents were not treated with the extracts either during the fertilized egg or first instar stages, and none when at least one parent was given the neem seed extract regardless of the stage of treatment. Altogether, these results showed the possibility of using Neem seed extracts in sterilizing fruit tree-infesting flies at earlier stages of their life cycle.