Abstract
Toxicity of acetonic extracts of four plants, Abutilon spp., Calotropis procera, Lantana camara and Ruta chalepensis against parasitic bee mite, Varroa destructor was evaluated in the field and laboratory conditions. All used plant extracts demonstrated remarkable toxicity to Varroa mite. The greatest effect was due to L. camara extract followed by Ruta extract. Of the four plants, the acetonic extract of L. camara showed more toxic effect than others with LC50 of 102.9 ppm after 2 days compared to 127.8, 154.8 and 175.5 for R. chalepensis, Abutilon spp. and C. procera, respectively. Mortality percentage was 95.5% for L. camara after 2 days from treatment with 400 ppm, while it was 93.3, 84.5 and 82.2% for R. chalepensis, Abutilon spp. and C. procera, respectively. Acetonic extract of L. camara reduced infestation to 0.20% under field conditions using 400 ppm after 12 days of treatment. These findings suggested that, the application of acetonic extracts of the used plants, especially extracts of L. camara and Ruta chalepensis may have a promising practical application against Varroa mites.