Ten essential oils from seven Azorean plant species were evaluated for their insecticidal, ovicidal, feeding‐deterrence and growth inhibition activities against Pseudaletia unipuncta. The oils of Laurus azorica (leaves), and Juniperus brevifolia (leaves) showed strong moderate insecticidal effect on fourth‐instar larvae causing 93.3% and 46.7% mortality, respectively. Juniperus brevifolia (leaves), L. azorica (leaves), Persea indica (leaves), Hedychium gardnerianum (leaves) and Pittosporum undulatum (fruits and leaves) significantly affected the hatching of P. unipuncta eggs (<8% eclosions). Five oils showed significant feeding deterrent activities (L. azorica, 92.4%, J. brevifolia, 93.6%, P. undulatum leaves, 95.5% and fruits, 83.8% and H. gardnerianum, 88.2%). All of the essential oils tested, significantly inhibited the larval growth after 5 days of feeding on the treated diet. Essential oils from L. azorica and J. brevifolia were the most potent growth inhibitors among the oils tested, producing a decrease in the initial larva weight (−14.8 and −14.5 mg, respectively). Our results indicate that L. azorica (leaves), J. brevifolia (leaves), P. indica (leaves), H. gardnerianum (leaves), and P. undulatum (leaves and fruits) can be exploited for the development of bioactive compounds as a new source of agrochemicals. Further emphasis on isolation and identification of active constituents can be useful to develop new environment‐friendly insect control agents.

High-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection-electrospray ionization multi-stage mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n)) is considered to be a very valuable tool for the characterization of compounds found in trace amounts in natural matrices, as their previous isolation and clean-up steps can be avoided. Micro-scale separation increases the potential of this analytical technique, allowing the determination of compounds in reduced samples. Spodoptera littoralis represents a major challenge to Solanaceae plants, as it is one of the most deleterious pests. The S. littoralis/Lycopersicon esculentum system was studied for the first time concerning glycoalkaloids and phenolics. Using HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n) we were able to characterize 15 phenolic compounds in L. esculentum leaves. Nine of them are reported for the first time. Some differences were found between leaves of cerasiforme and 'Bull's heart' varieties. However, in the materials of S. littoralis (larvae, adults, exuviae and excrements) reared in both L. esculentum leaves no phenolics were identified. α-Tomatine was the main glycoalkaloid in the host plant. The glycoalkaloid composition of the different S. littoralis materials was distinct, with α-tomatine and dehydrotomatine being the main detected compounds in larvae and excrements. These results add knowledge to the ecological interaction in this insect/plant duo, for which it is hard to obtain considerable sample amounts.

a b s t r a c tThe molluscicidal activity of essential oils from two endemic (Juniperus brevifolia; Laurus azorica) and three introduced (Hedychium gardnerianum; Pittosporum undulatum; Psidium cattleianum) Azorean plants against the snail Radix peregra was studied under laboratory conditions. Essential oils from leaves of H. gardnerianum, L. azorica and J. brevifolia presented promising molluscicidal activity on both adults and juveniles stages of R. peregra. The molluscicidal activity of these essential oils was found to be both time and concentration dependent. Lethal concentrations (LC 50 ) varied between 15.4 (L. azorica) and 44.6 ppm (H. gardnerianum) for juveniles and from 45.3 (H. gardnerianum) to 54.6 ppm (J. brevifolia) for R. peregra adults. Ovicidal effect, calculated as percentage of egg hatching, at 100 ppm concentration, was observed in essential oils from P. undulatum flowers (4.2% of hatching) and leaves of H. gardnerianum (4.9%), L. azorica (7.4%) and J. brevifolia (17.7%). The present study is the first attempt to assess the molluscicidal potential of some Azorean plants essential oils against a Lymnaeidae snail. In fact, the H. gardnerianum, L. azorica and J. brevifolia can offer natural alternative tools for the control of R. peregra population, but more research is needed in order to determine the mode of action of these oils and determine the side effects on the ecosystem where this freshwater snail occurs.

In spite of intense research on both chemical constituency and biological activity of Hypericum species, potential applications of their active components for pest control have been less well investigated. In the present study, Hypericum androsaemum (tutsan), Hypericum foliosum (malfurada), and Hypericum undulatum (wavy St. John's wort) aqueous and hexane extracts were studied for their molluscicidal and ovicidal activities against Radix peregra. The molluscicidal activity of the aqueous extracts was low, except for H. androsaemum infusion (median lethal concentration [LC50](adults)  = 317.1 ppm; LC50(juveniles)  = 415 ppm), and less important compared with the toxicity of all three hexane extracts tested: H. androsaemum (LC50(adults)  = 30.47 ppm; LC50(juveniles)  = 73.25 ppm), H. undulatum (LC50(adults)  = 30.55 ppm; LC50(juveniles)  = 60.54 ppm), and H. foliosum (LC50(adults)  = 48.61 ppm; LC50(juveniles)  = 38.81 ppm). An ovicidal effect was observed only with H. androsaemum infusion (1.85% of hatching at 500 ppm) and H. foliosum hexane extract (0.0% of hatching at 100 ppm). A preliminary phytochemical investigation of the lipophylic extracts from these Hypericum sp. revealed a different chemical profile and confirmed the presence of ursolic acid only in H. undulatum as the main compound. The present study indicates that products from hexane extracts of the Hypericum sp. analyzed may be used as potential molluscicides to control snails responsible for transmitting fasciolosis.

A new gregarious larval-pupal endoparasitoid of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is described and illustrated: Aphaereta ceratitivora sp. n. (Braconidae: Alysiinae: Alysiini).