Ethylic acetate, ethanolic and aqueous roots extracts of Lonchocarpus floribundus were used to evaluate their biological activity on cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Adult ticks were collected in artificially infested cattle, separated into groups of ten individuals, weighed and immersed separately in the extracts of L. Floribundus roots at concentrations of 5, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg mL-1. For biological evaluation 14-21-day-old larvae were used, which were immersed in the extracts at concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg mL-1. After treatment, each group was placed in a Petri dish and maintained at 27 ± 1 ºC and 80 ± 5% relative humidity. The extracts evaluated were not effective to induce mortality of over 50%-engorged female. The ethylic acetate and ethanolic extracts induced 100% mortality of larvae. The ethanolic extract was more toxic (median lethal concentration, LC50, of 2.1 mg mL-1) than the ethylic acetate extract (LC50 = 4.1 mg mL-1). For the ethanolic extract it was estimated a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 3.0 mg mL-1 and it was more toxic than the other extracts on this parameter. Among the three extracts evaluated, the ethylic acetate and ethanolic extracts showed the highest potential for the control of reproduction of R. (B.) microplus, reaching 100% at concentration of 5 mg mL-1. The L. Floribundus root extracts showed biological activity on cattle tick.
Vegetable extracts; tick; engorged females; Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus
