Effect of Capsicum chinense as a botanical insecticide on the mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in soybeans

The use of botanical insecticides has become increasingly popular in agriculture as an alternative form of pest control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda using different concentrations of chili pepper extract (Capsicum chinense). The experiment was conducted in the laboratory of the Faculdades Associadas de Uberaba, using NS7901 soybean leaves 59 days after sowing to feed S. frugiperda. A completely randomized design was adopted with five treatments (control, 5, 10, 15 and 20% concentration of C. chinense extract applied to soybean leaves in plastic pots) and 80 replicates each. After 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 hours, caterpillar mortality was assessed. In all the evaluations, the control was the one with the lowest mortality, demonstrating that the use of C. chinense extract was efficient in controlling the caterpillar, with a 47% difference in mortality between the 20% concentration and the control at 120 hours, for example. The results also showed that increasing the concentration increased mortality in general. Therefore, it can be concluded that concentrations between 10 and 20% of the extract showed the best results, considering the entire period evaluated.