Prevalence of Land Snail Oxychillus cellarius in Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women University Campus and its management by Plant Extracts

Abstract

The present survey and study was undertaken to know the prevalence of the land snail Oxychillus cellarius species in the Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women University, Vijayapura. The species was reported in bulk during rainy season. The collection was done from the infested vegetables grown in the nursery maintained by Dept of Botany. They were brought to lab and were reared in plastic containers that had soiling and humus bedding in it, the snails were fed with cabbage and snake gourd. The snails were later studied with their morphological features viz, shell shape, foot, tentacles etc. and with the help of taxonomic keys the species was identified to be Oxychillus cellarius. The species is a potent agricultural pest and earlier it was not reported from the campus. There is also a need to control the species population as they infest many plant species of economic importance. So in this regard the snails were fed with feed treated with two plant extracts like Parthenium and Ginger-Garlic. The plant extracts prepared were methanol based and further different concentrations of the extract were made like 1PPT and 2PPT. These were tested for two bioassays viz, Mortality and feed deterrence upon the snails. The ginger-garlic extracts were more effective in making the snails to stop the feeding gradually and then going for death. This method of controlling the snails is eco-friendly and a good replacement for synthetic pesticide that have pronounced effects on non-target organisms, so the snails and other related species should be controlled this method so that the loss to the agricultural crops can be stopped.