author(s)
Justin Nambangia Okolle, Nkwenti Marie-Claire Lum, Christopher Ngosong, Lawrence Tatanah Nanganoa, Tanyi Clovis, Nekongo Peter Sakwe and Afuh Mathias Mih

abstract
From November 2013 to May 2014, the insecticidal properties of detergent-oil (mixture of liquid washing detergent and vegetable oil) emulsions of four plants (Lantana camara, Allium sativum, Coffea arabica, and Jatropha curcas) were tested on the long tailed mealy bugs infesting banana plants in Cameroon. The treatment doses used in the laboratory were 5g, 10g, 15g of the plant powders per 100mL of 15% detergent-oil mix, 2mL of chlopyrifos-ethyl in 500mL (positive control), and untreated tap water (negative control). In the field, the treatments were; an untreated control (nothing applied), 15g of Lantana per 100ml of 15% of detergent solution, 10g of Garlic per 100ml of 15% of detergent solution, 15g of coffee husk per 100ml of 15% of detergent solution, 15g of Jatropha per 100ml of 15% detergent solution, and 2ml of Pyriforce® (chlopyrifos-ethyl) per 500ml of water. In the laboratory, the results for the plant emulsions showed that L. camara (range of 64.5-94.5%) and A. sativa (range of 88.9 – 100%) emulsions had the highest mortality. As for repellency, the highest was from J. curcas treatment (72 – 92%), In the field, all the doses of the plant emulsions used significantly reduced the mealy bug infestation as compared to the positive control (water). The different plant emulsions showed high potential to kill and repel mealy bugs. Combining J. curcas with either L. camara or A. sativum could be evaluated for the management of mealy bugs in the fields.