Studies on the effect of acetone, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether and methanol extract of various plant parts of Argemone mexicana L. against Spodoptera litura Fab. revealed presence of various anti insect properties such as feeding deterrence, insecticidal and insect growth regulatory activities. Among the solvents tested acetone imparted maximum antifeedant action of 98.01 per cent followed by methanol. Between the plant parts tested the seed extract had shown higher feeding deterrence followed by leaf extract. Various solvent extracts of other plant parts failed to exhibit significant feeding deterrence (> 60%). Supreme insecticidal action was noticed only in methanol extract of seed (80% larval mortality) and it caused complete death of all the treated insects (Nil adult emergence). Insect growth regulatory activity alone was noticed as the supreme anti insect action in ethyl acetate solvent extract. It caused nil adult emergence by imparting 40 and 60 per cent larval and adult malformations respectively. Among the solvent extracts, petroleum ether exhibited minimum anti insect effects in all the plant parts tested.
