Acaricidal Activity of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa Against Panonychus citri

Acaricidal activity of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa against Panonychus citri was tested in the laboratory. Four solvents were used to prepare crude extracts, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ethanol, among which ethanol was the most effective one. The results suggested that ethanol extracts of B. sessilicarpa had eminent acaricidal and ovicidal activities. Concentrated extracts were prepared using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, or distilled water as solvent. Mite mortality rates in the concentrated extracts by petroleum ether, chloroform, or distilled water were significantly lower than those by ethyl acetate. The LC50 values of eggs and female mites were 0.7639 and 1.1033 mg mL−1, respectively. After liquid chromatography and thin layer chromatography, the concentrated extracts were separated into 14 groups of fractions and further tests for their acaricidal and ovicidal activities were conducted. Fraction 2 was found to possess higher acaricidal and ovicidal activities. The mortality of eggs and adult mites were 85.83 and 63.07%, respectively. Moreover, fraction 2 showed moderate oviposition inhibition effect (0.8795) against P. citri when the used dose was higher than 2.5 mg mL−1.