POTENTIAL OF INSECTICIDAL PLANTS FOR CONTROLLING LEAF-CUTTING ANTS IN BRAZIL Debora Leia Rodrigues Santos Reis, Amanda Beatriz Carneiro, Vanessa David Cruz, Elke Hellen Matias Fernandes, Clarissa Mendes Knoechelmann, Felipe Fernando da Silva Siqueira

Abstract

This research aimed to conduct a bibliographic review with the aim of gathering, identifying and classifying plants with insecticidal potential and the method of extraction of the active ingredient, cited in the literature, for the alternative control of agricultural pests, specifically for the control of leaf-cutting ants. Chi-square analyses (equal expected proportions) were performed to verify whether the frequencies found for: occurrence of insecticidal plants by geopolitical region, botanical families with insecticidal potential, groups of secondary compounds with insecticidal action and the main method of extraction of the bioproduct. A total of 137 articles were verified, where it was found that Brazil has a high coverage of insecticidal plants, with a total of 68 species, distributed in 29 families. The Rutaceae family and its species have high potential for use as botanical insecticides. The most commonly used method for the application of bioproducts was essential oil. The species Zanthoxylum pohlianum and Citrus limonia (Rutaceae), Eplingiella fruticosa (Lamiaceae) show promising results for the control of leaf-cutting ants.