The Effect of Cannabidiol on the Mortality of Pogonomyrmex barbatus

An ongoing discussion in the world right now is on the presence and use of pesticides in agriculture. Pesticides present a level of danger to both the public and agricultural workers. Researchers are looking into alternative pesticides that may be more safe and healthy for the environment. This has led to the discussion of biopesticides. Biopesticides are pesticides that are sourced from natural products and are generally much safer for the environment than synthetic pesticides. One form of biopesticides is essential oil. A popular essential oil is Cannabidiol oil due to its widespread activism and the buzz surrounding the plant it comes from, hemp. Recent research has shown that Cannabidiol presents a possible avenue for the creation future pesticides. However, little research is done on the effects of Cannabidiol against common pests. The purpose of this paper was to research the insecticidal effects of Cannabidiol against the common household pest Pogonomyrmex barbatus. It was hypothesized that Cannabidiol would increase the mortality of Pogonomyrmex barbatus. With a P-value of 0.396, the null hypothesis was unable to be rejected. It can be concluded from this that Cannabidiol does not have an effect on the mortality of Pogonomyrmex barbatus. These results suggest that Cannabidiol will find more use as an industrial pesticide rather than a household pesticide