80 Journal of Tropical Forest Science 9 (1): 80 - 87 (1996)

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SINENSIS () AS INSECT REPELLENT

Noraini Mohd. Tamin, Norhayati Ismail

Department of Botany, Universiti Kebangsaan , 43600 Bangi, Malaysia

&

M Jamila. S . h

The Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Block A-F, Anjung Felda, Jalan Maktab, P.O. Box 10887, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

_ _ Received _ _ February _ _ 1995 ______

NORAINI, M.T., NORHAYATI JAMILAH& . ,I , M.S. 1996 e effectivenes.Th f o s Toona sinensis (Meliaceae insecs )a t repellent experimenn A . conductes wa t d overa period of six weeks, to observe the effectiveness of Toona sinensis as insect repellent. Three other from the same family (Meliaceae), namely, Toona sureni, Chukrasia tabularis d Swieteniaan macrophylla.: were use s tesa d t s mosa , t meliaceous tree e susceptiblsar attacko et shooy b s t borers e percentag.Th leaf eo f damage of test plants at six different distances from Toona sinensis was used as a measure of effectiveness of the latter in repelling insect pests. It was found that Toona sinensis effectivs wa controllinn ei g pest attacks nearee more th th , o es r this species e testh wat o plantst s . macrophylla leass wa t susceptibl o peset t attacks, Chukrasia tabularis, more susceptibl d Toonaean sureni, e mosth t susceptible. Toona sinensis placed amon gmixtura three th f eo etes t effectivs wa s controllinn i e g pest attacks.

Keywords: Toona- Meliacea e- insec t repellent- effective pest contro - lshoo t borers

NORAINI, M. T., NORHAYATI, I. & JAMILAH, M.S. 1996. Keberkesanan Toona sinensis (Meliaceae) sebagai pencegah serangga. Sam kajian telah dijalankan selama enam minggu, untuk mengkaji keberkesanan Toona sinensis sebagai pencegah serangga. Tiga lagi spesies pokok dari famili yang sama (Meliaceae), iaitu Toona sureni, Chukrasia tabularis dan Swietenia macrophylla telah digunakan sebagai pokok ujian, kerana kebanyakan pokok dari famil i adalain i h rentan kepada penebuk pucuk. Peratus kerosaka n paddau na pokok ujian yang dileta i enad k m jarak yang berlainan dari Toona sinensis telah digunakan untuk menilai keberkesanan spesies ini untuk mencegah serangga perosak. Didapati bahawa Toona sinensis boleh mengawal serangan perosak dengan berkesan, khususnya apabila poko i terletain k k lebih dekat dengan pokok ujian. Swietenia macrophylla kurang rentan sekali, Chukrasia tabularis lebih rentan, sedangkan Toona sureni paling rentan. Toona sinensis apabila dileta i antard k a campuran ketiga-tiga pokok ujian adalah berkesan dalam mengawal serangan perosak. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 9 (1): 80 - 87 (1996) 81

Introduction

The family Meliaceae has many species that are valued for their good quality timber, for example Toona sinensis (surian bawang), Toona sureni (surian wangi), Chukrasia tabularis (surian batu d Swieteniaan ) macrophylla (). These species have wide pan-tropical distributions, and occur in diverse habitats in the tropical rain forests, from mangrove forests, hill dipterocarp and lower mon- tane forests (Metcalfe & Chalk 1950, Pennington & Styles 1975, Mabberley & Pannell 1989). Toona sinensis and Toona sureni are indigenous species in Malaysia d havan e been promoted (Norain . 1992al t s commercialle a i) y importanr fo t reforestation s ornamentala , s (Norain r stabilisinifo 1992d an )g steep slopes (Barker al. 1994). The most important commercial value of meliaceous species is timber for furniture, boat building, craftmusicad an s l instruments (Corner 1988). Toona spp.,in particular e fasar , t growing, wit girta h h growth r rat pe f abou eo m c t5 year (personal observation) compared to most dipterocarp which attain r yeape growtr a m (Foxworthc 8 h2. rat f o e y 1927). Toonan i n reacm ca 3 h1 wit, y h3 1 68cm girth, while somgirtm c n attai he9 ca afte14 y (Gambln 0 3 r e 1972). Toona spp pioneee ar . r trees, often attacke insecy db t pests, which resule th n ti formation of many lateral branches, and dwarfing of trees. This makes the trees less attractive for sawn timber. Some of the insect pests include Margina robusta (Phycitidae) (Gamble shoo e 1972)th d t ,boreran , Hypsipyla robusta (Lepidoptera: Pyradidae) (Styles & Khosla 1976). Toona seedlings and saplings are most suscep- tibl attacko et Hypsipylay sb . (Grijpmsp a 1976). Toona sinensis localls i y know s suriana n bawan r suntango g puteh (Watson 1928) whil s synonyeit s mCedrelai serrata. Crushed bard leavesan k s wela ,s a l seeds of this species emit a strong ordour resembling garlic, originating from phenolic compounds, believe repeo dt l insect reporte pestss wa t I . d that secondary compounds with strong odours can be poisonous to certain pests (Swain 1977, Mon Sudderuddig& n 1978). The study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Toona sinensis in controlling insect attackfoue th r n meliaceouso s species, use tess da t plantse .Th experiments were conducted near the Green House Complex of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, from August until December 1993.

Materials and methods

In this study, 6-month-old seedlings, about 20 cm tall and grown in the greenhouse, were used. These seedlings were transplanted into perforated black nursery ) threcm polybag0 e 3 quarteX 0 s(2 rmixtur a ful f o l soilf eo , san padd dan i husks (ratio 1:1:1). Whe e transplanteth n d seedlings were ready, they were brougho t open a n spac placed aparm c woodeen an o 0 t d1 n planks , abovaboum c 0 e4 t ground. 82 Journal of Tropical Forest Science 9(l):80-87 (1996)

e tesTh t species, Toona sureni, Chukrasia tabularis Swieteniad an macrophylla were arranged in separate rows, in a cross intersection on the wooden planks. The putative insect repellent species, Toona sinensis, s placee centreth wa a n s di A . controexperimente th o t l , Toona sinensis s replacewa d wite samth h e species sa tese th t species. Each sectiocrose th sf no containe tesx si dt trees, placem c 5 d2 apart combinatioA . three th f eno test specie alss oswa prepared. above Th e experimen conductes wa t d using three replicates.

Data sampling

Data taken immediately after placing the test plants in the field were considered as data for week 0. During sampling, the percentage of damage caused by pests was observed, and given the following arbitrary values -'

Value Corresponding percentage damage

0 () 1 1-10 2 10-25 -;')(5 2 ) 3 0 7 - 0 5 4 5 > 75

Data analysis

date Th a were analysed usin Statisticae gth l Analysis Syste valuer mfo meaf so n differences between specie differenced san s between experiment controld san .

Results and discussion

The results of this study are summarised in the graphs (Figures 1- 3), which show levele th f damago s e testh t n plantepositioni x si t a s s (fro cm-60 m1 ) awa0cm y from Toona sinensis, after 1, 5, and 10 weeks. A week after the experiment was set up (Figure 1), most test plants showed low damage values (betwee 2.0)o t 5 .n 0. Tes t plants that were neares Toonao t sinensis were protected for longer periods from insect attacks. The first species to be attacke Toonas dwa sureni.fifte th hy weeB k (Figur tesl al t, plante2) s showed higher damage values (0.5-2.5), those neares Toonao t sinensis with less visible attackst .A the end of the experiment, at week 10 (Figure 3), damage values peaked to 3.5 for test plant t greatessa t distances away from Toona sinensis. When the damage to the leaves of test plants is expressed as a percentage, it was noted that Toona sureni showed damage exceeding 75%, Chukrasiatabulari s Journal of Tropical Forest Science (19967 8 - (1) 9 0 :8 ) 83

between 50 and 75 %, and Swietenia macrophylla, between 10 and 25 %. Thus the leaves of Toona sureni were most susceptible to insect attacks, probably because these were thinner and softer than the rest. Furthermore shoots of all test plants were badly attacked compared to older leaves.

2.5

cm 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 Distance of test seedlings from Toona sinensis

~ T. sureni (control) sureni. T O V C. tabularis (control)

C. tabularis 5 S. macrophylla (control) . macrophyllaS - -0

- Mixture testof plants 6 Mixture of test plants

Figure 1. Damage of test seedlings at various distances from 'I'oona sinensis seedlings (week I)

Various pests were seen attacking the test plants. There were two species of grasshoppers, Xenoctantops humilis Caryandad an diminuta (Acrididae) snaila d ,an , Succinea . (Molluscasp ) that attacke leavee d th stem d san mosf so t test plants. Others include insects (Hemiptera, Homoptera, Coccoidea) that damaged stems, and caused the death of seedlings. It was found that the level of damage of test plants was significantly reduced (p>0.05) when Toona sinensis was used as the repellent species. Based on Duncan's t-test, it was proven that Toona sureni was the most susceptible to insect pests, and Swietenia macrophylla least susceptible. A combination of the three test species showed intermediate susceptibility. Base thin do s result probabls i t ,i e that multiple species sppplantin a Chukrasiad .an Toon f go tabularis reducfiele y th dma n i e insect attacks. Swietenia macrophylla is probably a better candidate for monoculture planting. 84 1 ( 7 8 9 (1)- e 0 8 : Scienc t Fores l Tropica f o l Journa

m c 0 6 O 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 Distance of test seedlings from Toona sinensis

^ ^ (contro| c ^ ) T 7sureni.O *,„,„ (control, )

C.tabularis « s. microphyte (control) -> s. macropnyfe l j Mixture of test plants ^ Mixture of test plants

Figur . Damage2 f teseo t seedling t various sa s sinensi a distance Toon m s fro seedlings (wee) k5

Planting diversity tend reduco st e insect pest damage thin I .e s us study e th , of aromatic specie repellenta s a s , showe potentiada reducinn li eliminatinr go g the use of pesticides. The strong garlic odour emitted by Toona sinensis was effective in controlling pest attacks at the specific time of study, on test plants placed at specific distances from this species (Toona sinensis). Earlier studies on Toona spp. (Noraini et al. 1992, Edmonds 1993), revealed e presencth f severaeo l compounds suc alkaloidss ha , coumarin d flavonoidsan s e leave ith d nshoo an s t tip f Toona.o s Oxalic aci s presendi bare th kn i twhil e oile founar s n Toonai d fruits. Compounds r examplfo , e deoxycedrellone. proanthocyanidins, cedrellone, cedrellone iodoacetat d lencocyanidinan e e ar s heartwoodfoune th n di , while sideri sesquiterpenoidd nan e presensar othen i t r woody parts. Degraded triterpenes, known as limonoids, are compounds that characteris famile eth y Meliaceae t presen t thesno ,bu e eToonan ar ti sinensis, while in Toona sureni, there exists a primitive prieurianin limonoid known as surenin. Related to this, it was observed that some secondary aromatic compounds are strong smelling while others can kill insects that eat them (Swain 1977, Mong & Sudderuddin 1978). It was believed that the larvae: of Hypsipyla grandella did not Journal f o Topical Forest Science 1996( 7 9(1)8 ) - 80 :

bor trune eth f Toonako sinensis t bore bu trunk e dth othef so r trees r examplfo , e Aucaumea . (1.2sp 4 cm), Khaya . (9.6sp 8 cm), Swietenia d Cedrela . (19.2an sp ) 6cm (19.68cm foodr mortalite )fo .Th Hypsipylaf yo grandella larvae that attacked Toona sinensis was high (Grijpma & Gara 1970).

3.5-

3-

2.5-

& H

1 -

0.5-

0 10 2O 3O 4O 5O 6O cm Distance of test seedlings from Toona sinensis

tabula/is. C * * (control) sureni. T sureni. T O " (control)

. macrophyllaS a macrophylla. S (controlO - tabularis. >C )

^ .Mixture of test plants -S- Mixture ot test plants

Figur . Damage3 f teseo t seedling t variousa s distances from Toona sinensis seedlings (wee) k10 stude Th y showed tha presence tth f Toonaeo sinensis effectivs wa controllinn ei g insect attacks on the leaves of the test plants, and this is probably due to the presence in the leaves of aromatic compounds which can act as repellants. The most common pest was insect (Lepidoptera) larvae. However, the relationship between the effectiveness of of Toona sinensis (in controlling damage) and its distance from the test plants varied with species. Toward e lateth s rstudye parth f ,to several test plants clos Toonao et sinensis were attacked by insect pests. During the last (10th) week, even Toona sinensis was, attacked. It was also found that insect population increased during the wet season, thus exposing the leaves to greater danger of being attacked. 86 Journal of Tropical Forest Science 9( 1): 80 - 87 ( 1996)

Conclusion

Meliaceous tree seedlings placed near seedlings of Toona sinensis \vere less damaged by insects than seedlings of the same species placed at varying distances away. e seedlingTh f Toonaso sureni moss wa t susceptibl inseco et t damage, followey db Chukrasia tabularis d Swieteniaan macrophylla. However, whe l threnal e speciee ar s placed near Toona sinensis, the damage was intermediate. This finding has impor- tant implication in silviculture and it is suggested that the planting of several species of meliaceous trees will reduce the level of insect damage thereby reducing e pesticidesneee us th o dt . This will also reduce cost probabld san y help promote sustainable forest management.

Acknowledgement

The research grant from the Govenment (IRPA No. 4-07-03-007-J05) given to the first author for this study at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, is gratefully acknowledged.

References

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