Evaluation of vegetable oil as oviposition deterrents for the management of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) in cotton

Oviposition deterrents are the info-chemicals that modifies the behavior of conspecific female insects either to settle on the treated surface or to lay eggs thereafter, reducing intra-specific competition. Drawing from our prior research, it has been established that the fatty acids (Oleic and linoleic acid) found in vegetable oils exhibit properties of oviposition deterrence. The present study was designed to investigate the oviposition deterrent activity of vegetable oils against pink bollworm. Six different vegetable oils, namely groundnut, sunflower, soybean, rice bran, safflower and sesame containing oleic and linoleic acid as major fatty acids were selected and evaluated under laboratory and field conditions. Under laboratory conditions, oils were tested at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 3.0