Fumigant Toxicity of Artemisia absinthium Essential Oil to Common Stored Product Pests

Essential oil of Artemisia absinthium (L.) a herbaceous perennial plant widely grown Kashmir valley was extracted by steam distillation method. The chemical composition of the extracted essential oil showed a total of 17 components, majority being β-thujone (17.25%), p-cymene (13.19%), camphor (12.42%), α terpineol (12.27%), eugenol (12.20%) and terpinen-4-ol (10.10%). The essential oil exhibited fumigant toxicity against the 1-7 days adults of Corcya cephalonica (Stainton), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Callosobruchus chinensis (L.). The LC50 values in case of C. cephalonica, T. castaneum and C. chinensis were 42.45, 48.63 and 58.11 μl L-1 air after 24 hr and 18.23, 34.32 and 41.16 μl L-1 air after 72 hr of exposure, respectively.