Rita Muhamad

• Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia

Alien invasive Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck and Pomacea maculata Perry were introduced from their native habitats of South America in various regions of the world for variable purposes. However, they were discarded in wild either because of mismanagement or failed to achieve desired goals and became well established in the introduced countries beca...

Bagworm is the most serious threat to Malaysia's oil palm industry, causing up to 40% crop loss after two years of defoliation. In response to the concomitant decrease in pesticide use, nectariferous plants such as Turnera ulmifolia are increasingly being planted as biological control for bagworm. To fill in the knowledge gap, studies were conducte...

Aphis (A.) gossypii is an important agricultural pest because of its polyphagous nature. It leads to substantial losses in agricultural crops by causing either direct damage to its hosts as a phloem-feeder or indirectly by serving as vectors of many important plant viruses. Botanical aphicides represent a sustainable alternative to combat A. gossyp...

Weeds may act as inoculum reservoirs for fungal pathogens that could affect other economically important crops (Karimi et al. 2019). In February 2019, leaves of the ubiquitous invasive weed, Parthenium hysterophorus L. (parthenium weed) exhibiting symptom of blight were observed at Ladang Infoternak Sg. Siput (U), a state–owned livestock center in...

Apple snail is one of the major pest of rice crop and saponin proved to be the most promising bioactive compound to control it. This study was carried out to quantify saponin from God's Crown, Phaleria macrocarpa and to evaluate its efficacy against the biological activities of black apple snail, Pomacea maculata. Fruits, leaves and stem-barks of P...

Alien invasive Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck and Pomacea maculata Perry were introduced into many countries of the world from South American countries either for food, aquaculture, or to manage and control weeds or schistosomiasis vector snails. Due to mismanagement in their introduced locations, these destroyed natural wetlands and agricultural cro...

A study of choice test and no-choice test was conducted to test plant volatiles response to adult orientation behaviour and performance of predatory insect, Sycanus dichotomus on three beneficial plants (Turnera subulata, Antigonon leptopus and Cassia cobanensis) and three ground vegetation covers (Asystasia gangetica, Euphorbia heterophylla and Ag...

p>ABSTRACT Helopeltis antonii is one of the major pests in most cashew growingareas in Indonesia. The pest attacks cashew plants in the nursery and alsoin the fields which caused significant damage. Apart of cashew the insectshave a lot of alternate host plants such as tea, cocoa, neem, pepper,mangoes, jamboes, etc. This research was aimed at inve...

use of green solar energy for stored product disinfestation

This study was focused on molluscicidal effect and feeding deterrent activity of saponin from five different plant materials; Andrographis paniculata, Entada spiralis, Ficus deltoidea, Furcraea selloa and Ipomoea batatas. Crude plant extracts were prepared from plant powders using methanol. The crude extracts were then tested on Pomacea maculata us...

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is a major pest of stored commodities and their by-product worldwide. A literature review was done to present a summary of relevant literature on the general biology of the insect pest. The review addresses the following general subjects: taxonomic classification, origin...

The tobacco whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a cryptic species complex with members capable of inducing huge economic losses. Precise identification of members of this complex proves essential in managing existing populations and preventing new incursions. Despite records of serious outbreaks of this pest in Malaysia...

The use of heat treatment for the disinfestation of insect pests of stored products has been demonstrated to hold great potential as an ecofriendly alternative technique of choice in the feature grain storage systems. However, the success of this method depends on the application of heat on the commodity at levels that cause maximum mortality on th...

The current study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of Artemisia herba-alba essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation and solvent extraction against papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus. The essential oil was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the insecticidal activity was recorded for d...

Acerophagus papayae is a koinobiont endoparasitoid of the invasive papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus and has been introduced as a classical bio-control agent of the mealybug in many countries. Considering the importance, parasitism efficiency of A. papayae against various life stages of P. marginatus was conducted in choice experiments. Result...

The effect of different initial adult population densities of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) at several post infestation storage times on the final adult population density, the percentage of damaged beans, the percentage of weight loss, and the weight of insect feeding residues on cocoa beans was investigated in laboratory experiments. Both factors...

The current study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of Artemisia herba-alba essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation and solvent extraction against papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus. The essential oil was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the insecticidal activity was recorded for d...

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel, is one of the most problematic tephritid fruit flies and an agriculturally-important pest due to the severe damages caused in commercial fruits such as mango (Mangifera indica L.). The species is known to be able to develop eggs in different stage of ripening fruits. Therefore, this study is aimed...

A survey was carried out in mango orchards the infestation levels of fruit fly indica L.) through damaged fruit fruits: Bactrocera dorsalis Bactrocera dorsalis was recorded carambolae (9%). The highest fruit infestation pupae/kg), followed by Bukit Changgang (36.08±8.35 pupae/k ±4.86 pupae/kg) whilst Jitra showed the lowest A survey was carried out...

Experiments were conducted to study the effects of solar heat treatment in a solar heater box on all the life stages, namely adult, larvae, eggs and pupa of T. castaneum infested on cocoa beans. Thirty (30) adults, larvae, eggs and pupae of T. castaneum were infested on cocoa beans and exposed to solar radiation in the solar heater box for 30, 45,...

Rice productivity is limited by many pests, especially Pomacea spp. in Southeast Asia. Pomacea spp. damage to rice depends on sowing methods, flooded conditions, and snail densities in the field. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of different sowing methods, water levels, and snail density (1, 2, and 3 snails per plot) on the damage...

The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling insect population. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for controlling insect population by disrupting mating process. The system (100) for controlling insect population comprising a signal generator (10) configured to compose synthetic calls by...

Bagworm, Metisa plana Walker (Lepidoptera:Psychidae) is one of the most destructive pests in Peninsular Malaysia’s oil palm plantations. Trials were conducted in the Kuala Selangor, Selangor and Kemayan, Pahang Region, Malaysia. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of three different management regimes (Fully-adopted planting tech...

Brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens is an imperative insect pest of rice crop throughout the Asia. Both BPH male and female rely on substrate borne vibrational signals prior to mate. Often such mating communication is affected by rivalry signals of other existed males of variable age and population. Therefore, the current study observed the...

The growth parameters of the green lacewing, Chrysoperla nipponensis-B (Okamoto), were studied under laboratory conditions. The highest mortality was recorded in the immature stages (instars 1st, 2nd, 3rd and pupae) of C. nipponensis fed on the eggs of Corcyra cephalonica (37.26%). The sex ratios (proportion of female to male) when reared on the eg...

The adverse effects of molluscicides applied for the control of the invasive apple snails, Pomacea spp., have led to the search for eco-based cultural, mechanical and biological control techniques. Therefore, a field study on the relative effectiveness of locally available and cost effective plant-based traps against Pomacea spp. was conducted. Res...

Rice ecosystem often involves a complex interaction of various pest species with rice. An example of such interaction is that between the invasive Pomacea spp. and Limnocharis flava. Both invasive pests have caused heavy loss to rice in Southeast Asia including Malaysia. However, information on the interaction of both invasive pests in the rice fie...

A field study was conducted for two consecutive rice-growing seasons from August, 2013 to May, 2014 to understand the population dynamics of exotic apple snails, Pomacea spp. (Ampullariidae), as affected by ambient weather and aquatic weeds. A one-acre rice field was divided into four blocks and eight samples per block were taken using a 0.5x0.5m q...

ABSTRACT: Papaya mealybug is notorious pest of papaya & other horticultural crops. Keeping in mind the role of parasitoids and predators in pest management, an exploratory study was conducted on the availability of natural enemies of recently introduced papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus in Selangor and Negri Sembilan states of Peninsular Malay...

Papaya mealybug is notorious pest of papaya & other horticultural crops. Keeping in mind the role of parasitoids and predators in pest management, an exploratory study was conducted on the availability of natural enemies of recently introduced papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus in Selangor and Negri Sembilan states of Peninsular Malaysia. Resul...

Apple snails, P.canaliculata and P.maculata are the two most successful invaders of many macrophytes especially rice in many countries of the world particularly Southeast Asia. Many studies have been conducted on ecology and management of P.canaliculata but little is known about the life cycle of P.maculata especially on rice. Therefore, comparativ...

A functional response study of 3rd instar Chrysoperla nipponensis (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) larvae reared on artificial diet and Corcyra cephalonica eggs was conducted. Different prey densities of aphid, Aphis craccivora, papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus and whitefly, Bemisia tabaci were used. The larvae of C. nipponensis showed type II funct...

Pomacea canaliculata and Pomacea maculata attack rice growing areas with significant yield losses. Their success rate is mainly due to their high reproductive potential. This study aimed to investigate the reproductive potential of both Pomacea spp. using a digital infrared CCTV video camera system to ensure data accuracy by recording uninterrupted...

The chemical elucidation of rotenone from Derris elliptica was conducted using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer. Rotenone and deguelin were found from the elucidation of each accession at retention time of 5.7 and 6.6 minute, respectively. Both have similar mass of 395.1489 with the empirical formula of C 23 H 21 O 6 .The emulsion formulatio...

Abstract Oryctes rhinoceros, a serious pest in young oil palm replanting areas, often causes reduced plant productivity and plant death. Common control measures are species specific pheromone traps; however discrepancy in attraction toward the pheromone traps has raised doubts on the possibility of cryptic species complex in O. rhinoceros. To ascer...

Brown planthopper (BPH) is a serious pest of rice that has caused significant yield losses. Considering the lack of studies on its biology in Peninsular Malaysia, several studies were undertaken to understand their mating behaviour. This study focuses on the influence of insect age on the mating behaviour of BPH because the age of insect plays an i...

Background: Tephritid fruit flies, Bactrocera carambolae (Drew and Hancock) and Bactrocera papayae (Drew and Hancock) belonging to the B. dorsalis complex are key pests of valuable fruits in Southeast Asia. Control of these pests is often limited by difficulties on their identification that have been increasing due to recent occurrences of species...

Oryctes rhinoceros, commonly known as the rhinoceros beetle is an important agricultural pest that is known to inflict serious damage on young oil palm trees. Many researches have been conducted on its development, life cycle, habitat, management and genomic variation ever since the need to understand this pest arose. Oryctes rhinoceros is among th...

Papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) is a highly invasive pest and is attaining the status of regular insect pest of papaya in South and South-East Asia. Keeping in view the importance of pest, a survey was conducted in three states of Peninsular Malaysia to observe pest infestation on papaya and other host plants and natural enemies. In Selango...

Bemisia tabaci, a resistance-prone insect pest, is a cryptic species complex with important invasive biotypes such as B and Q. The biotype and resistance statuses of this pest in Malaysia remain unclear. This study assessed the biotype and resistance status of a number of contemporary populations of B. tabaci based on the mtCO1 marker and the dose-...

The papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus is an imperative insect pest because of its invasive and polyphagous nature. Age-specific life and fertility tables of P. marginatus were constructed in laboratory conditions (27±2 o C, 60±5% RH). Survival and fertility characteristics of P. marginatus were observed on basis of provision of unlimited food s...

Acerophagus papayae, accidentally introduced parasitoid of Paracoccus marginatus in Malaysia was studied for parasitism, sex ratio, developmental time and gregariousness behaviour. The parasitoid was able to develop in all stages of P. marginatus except first instars, prepupa and pupa. The maximum parasitism (59.0 ± 5.66%) was observed in second in...

The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri (Kuwayama) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is a serious pest and main threat to citrus production worldwide. The present study was carried out to assess the performance of T. radiata, as biological control agent of D. citri, under insectary condition. The result shows T. radiata, to preferred late (4th and 5th) ins...

The papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus is an imperative insect pest because of its invasive and polyphagous nature. Age-specific life and fertility tables of P. marginatus were constructed in laboratory conditions (27±2 o C, 60±5% RH). Survival and fertility characteristics of P. marginatus were observed on basis of provision of unlimited food s...

Wood products are highly exposed to infestation by powder post beetles. Dinoderus minutus (bamboo borer) is a wood boring beetle that seriously damage dried bamboo and finished bamboo products. Management of D. minutus using pesticides showed negative effects on environment despite being very costly. By understanding influence of natural climatic c...

Morphometric analysis was performed on the oil palm pest Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) as part of a study to determine the possibility of a cryptic species complex occurring in this organism. Six beetle populations, each with a sample of 30 individuals were examined. The morphometric variables measured were total body length, elytral length, pronotal len...

Morphometric analysis was performed on the oil palm pest Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) as part of a study to determine the possibility of a cryptic species complex occurring in this organism. Six beetle populations, each with a sample of 30 indi-viduals, were examined. The morphometric variables measured were total body length, elytral length, pronotal l...

The invasive Q biotype of Bemisia tabaci has been found for the first time in 2 highland regions in Peninsular and East Malaysia, respectively. This invasive pest can adversely affect vegetable and ornamental production industry in the country. Further studies are recommended to more comprehensively delimit its presence in Malaysia.

The current investigation was designed to determine the influence of three extraction methods on the composition and insecticidal activity of essential oils extracted from Eucalyptus globulus and E. camaldulensis. The evaluated extraction methods were steam-distillation, steam water-distillation and hydro-distillation. Fumigant toxicity of the extr...

This study was carried out to isolate sufficiently novel single-locus microsatellite markers for the insect. The isolation was carried out based on the 5�-anchored polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique (Fisher et al. 1996) using anchored randomly amplified microsatellite (RAM) primers (Kumar et al. 2002; Hoh et al. 2008).

Two predators viz. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Apertochrysa sp. and one primary parasitoid Acerophagus papayae and three hyperparasitoids viz. Chartocerus sp., Marietta leopardina and Cheiloneurus sp. were reported from two states of Peninsular Malaysia. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Acerophagus papayae were frequently found from all sampled loca...

An understanding of the dispersion patterns of a pest is an important pre-requisite for developing an effective pest management program. In this study, fifty five (55) citrus trees were surveyed for adult Diaphorina citri once every four week for a period of ten months (March 2011 - December 2011). Analysis of spatial-distribution pattern using var...

A study on interactions between bagworm Pteroma pendula Joannis (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) populations with parasitoids and weather conditions was carried out at a smallholder oil palm plantation in Hutan Melintang, Perak, Malaysia from January 2011 until December 2011. Samplaing was performed monthly and parasitoids emergence were observed daily. Th...

Background: The rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae and rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica are major and cosmopolitan insect. Adults of S. oryzae (male and female) and both larvae are insatiable feeders on a great variety of grains. Objective: This study was conducted to estimate the insecticidal effect of essential oils from peppermint, Mentha piperita L....

Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is an important worldwide pest of citrus, because of its ability to vector the three phloem-restricted bacteria in the genus Candidatus Liberibacter, that cause citrus greening or huanglungbing. Studies were conducted to examine the effects of flush growth stage and volatile compounds emitted by two...

The Asian citrus psyllid D. citri is regarded as one of the most important pest of citrus, because it is known to be the most efficient vector of bacterium Liberobacter asiaticum that cause citrus greening or huanglungbing. Survivorship from egg to adult emergence and fertility of D. citri on C. suhuiensis (limau madu) were studied under laboratory...

A laboratory study aimed to compare the rearing of Sycanus dichotomus Stal. (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), as predator to Metisa plana Walker (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) by using the larvae of Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) as alternative preys was conducted. The survivorship (...

Chemical analyisis by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) revealed presence of 29 compounds in the essential oil fraction of kaffir lime, Citrus hystrix fresh leaves. Beta-citronellal was the major compound present with 66.85% of total oil followed by beta-citronellol (6.59%), linalool (3.90%) and citronellol (1...

Asian Papaya Fruit Fly, B. papayae (Drew & Hancock) undergoes four stages (egg, larva, pupa and adult) during its growth and development. In this study, observation showed that the egg's stage took 1.16 ± 0.00, larva's stage took 12.02 ± 0.13 and pupa's stage took 7.03 ± 0.08 days before the emergence of the adults. The male adult survived for 21.9...

Survival and fertility characteristics of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens were assessed in the laboratory and field. Life tables and population parameters of the BPH were constructed in an environment with unlimited food supply and that was free of natural enemies. The highest mortality occurred in the immature stage, especially in...

Randomly amplified microsatellite markers were used to study the genetic variation among six populations of Oryctes rhinoceros L. which were collected from oil palm plantations in Selangor, Perak, Pahang and Medan. Samples were collected using light and pheromone trapping for the purpose of obtaining two populations per site study. Thirty individua...

Population fluctuation of Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) and White Backed Plant Hopper (WBPH) were studied in Myanmar for two seasons (rainy and summer). Experiments was conducted on a 5 ha rainfed unsprayed field and done in 5 experimental units with an area of 100x100 m. BPH and WBPH were counted from 30 rice hills out of 2000 hills randomly. Relative...

Rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae L. is one of the major pests of stored commodities, the adult weevils feed on rice and the females lay eggs inside rice kernels. In the study chemical composition of extracts from black pepper, Piper nigrum L. and physic nut, Jatropha curcas L. were tested against this pest, under laboratory conditions. The chemical c...

Chemical analysis by GC and GC-MS revealed presence of 39 compounds in the essential oil fraction of Piper nigrum fresh fruits. Limonene was the major compound present with 35.06% of total oil followed by beta-pinene (12.95%) and linalool (9.55%). Insecticidal properties of Piper nigrum fruit extracts and essential oils were investigated against to...

Studies on the genetic variation among Camellia sinensis L. varieties (cultivated tea) in Malaysia were conducted by using RAMs markers. Six varieties were selected from Sungai Palas Boh Estate, Cameron Highlands and nine varieties were selected from Bukit Cheeding Boh Estate, Banting. These tea varieties were classified as resistant, intermediate,...

Helopeltis theivora is an important pest of cocoa, tea, mangoes and ornamental plants in Asia. In the effort to control this insect pest effectively, information on its population genetics is needed. Single locus DNA microsatellites are very efficient in being able to provide such information when they are used in the study of the population struct...

Survivorship and fertility of the White Backed Plant Hopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera were assessed under laboratory conditions in Myanmar. A pair of five days old WBPH was released into a wooden cage covered with wire mesh sieve. Thirty days old rice plant in a pot was placed on the floor of the wooden cage. The single sex method was applied in...

Helopeltis antonii is the major pest affecting cashew plants in Indonesia and causes potential damage to the plant. The development of the population was influenced by the fecundity and fertility of their eggs. The effect of mating on the eggs' fecundity and the fertility of H. antonii was studied. Laboratory studies at Wonogiri Estate Service in N...

Population fluctuation of Helopeltis antonii was studied in a cashew smallholding in Wonogiri, Indonesia for two years beginning March 2004 to May 2006. Observation of H. antonii population was carried out systematically on 60 sample plants in 2 ha cashew smallholding every two weeks for 2 years in relation to the number of shoots and inflorescence...

Effect of heating on Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) in Vigna angularis (Willd.), Ohwi & Ohashi, seed was assessed using an 118° obtuse base angle solar box heater. The box heater was constructed with 1.2 mm thick sheet metal, glued inside with aluminium foil and insulated on the outside by fixing 1 cm thick polystyrene and glazed with 0.15 mm...

A white entomogenous fungus was found growing on Helopeltis theobromae, a serious pest of cocoa. With the aid of light and scanning electron microscopy techniques, the fungus was identified as Beauveria bassiana. The fungus grew and sporulated on several artificial media at temperatures between 5° and 30°C but not at temperatures higher than 35°C;...

Cocoa pod borers from Tawau, Sabah and Sua Betong, Negeri Sembilan and rambutan fruit borers from Serdang and Puchong, Selangor and Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia were subjected to electrophoretic analysis in an effort to find diagnostic electromorphs between these two biotypes ofConopomorpha cramerella. Thirty enzymes and general proteins were suc...

Cocoa pod borers collected in the field from Tawau, Sabah and from Sua Betong, Negeri Sembilan and rambutan fruit borers collected from Puchong and the campus of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Hexokinase was found to be polymorphic in the UPM population, malate...