EVALUATION OF PROCESSING METHODS AND INSECTISTATIC ESSENTIAL OILS FOR THE CONTROL OF SKIN BEETLES (ms MACULATUS DEGEER) INFESTING DID FISH IN THE LAKE CHAD DISTRICT OF NIGERIA

The o f fish processing methods (smoke-drying, sun-drying and removal o f scales) and insectistatic essential oils obtained jrom Syzgium aromaticum, Piper guineense and Zingiber officinale in controlling Dermestes maculatus in dried Sarotherodon niloticus, Clarias gariepinus and Siluranodon auritus, was evaluated under prevailing storage conditions in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Smoke-dried fish were infested more by D. maculatus adults and larvae than sun-dried fish. The three species o f 151 were susceptible to D. maculatus infestation. Removal o f scales reduced the susceptibility ofs. niloticus to D. maculatus by more than 50%. With only occasional exceptions, the three dosages (0.48, 0.96 and 1.44 g,6O g) o f the essential oils significantly reduced infestation by D. maculatus adults and larvae. The application o f the essential oils obtained from s. aromaticum and p. guineense at the rate o f 1.44 g/60 completely suppressed the development o f D. maculatus in dried c. gariepinus during the S-month storage period.