Ovicidal toxicity of plant essential oils and their major constituents against two mosquito vectors and their non-target aquatic predators

Abstract

Plant essential oil (EO) is a natural alternative to synthetic chemical insecticides for mosquito control. EOs from Citrus aurantium L., Cymbopogon citratus (Stapf.), and Cinnamomum verum (J. Presl.) were selected for topical assay of their ovicidal activity against Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse). Their efficacy was compared to that of 1% (w/w) temephos. In addition, their non-toxicity against aquatic mosquito predators, Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia reticulata, was tested. Found by GC–MS analysis, the major constituent of C. verum EO was trans-cinnamaldehyde, of C. aurantium EO was d-limonene, and of C. citratus EO was geranial. Both C. verum EO and trans-cinnamaldehyde at a high concentration (30,000 ppm) exhibited high ovicidal activity against Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus eggs after 48 h of incubation with an inhibition rate of 91.0–93.0% for C. verum EO and 96.7–95.2% for trans-cinnamaldehyde. The combination of C. verum EO + geranial exhibited the strongest synergistic inhibition activity (100%) against the two mosquito vectors and was five times more effective than temephos. Moreover, they were not toxic to the non-target fishes. As a safe ovicidal agent for mosquito egg control, the combination of C. verum EO + geranial has excellent potential.

Insecticidal Activity of Essential Oils and Their Synergistic Effect on Improving the Efficacy of β-Cypermethrin against Blattella germanica

“…germanica indicated that trans -cinnamaldehyde is the main factor responsible for the insecticidal activity of cinnamon EO. This is consistent with the previously reported strong insecticidal activity of trans -cinnamaldehyde against a variety of pests. , …”

“…This is consistent with the previously reported strong insecticidal activity of trans-cinnamaldehyde against a variety of pests. 25,26 Eugenol and β-caryophyllene are the most representative compounds of clove EO. 27 Several reports indicated that eugenol has shown some insecticidal activity against various insects.…”

Toxicity of plants as insecticides against human pathogenic mosquito vectors of Saudi Arabian strains—A review

“…Root extracted oils from Hedychium stenopetalum, Hedychium villosum (Huong et al 2022). Bark extracted essential oil from cinnamon (Mustapa et al 2023), Cinnamomum verum (Moungthipmalai et al 2023). Number of research author's reports implies the remarkable biological activity of essential oil (Al-Keridis 2017;Vasantha-Srinivasan et al 2018;De Souza et al 2019;Thanigaivel et al 2019;Yaméogo et al 2021).…”

Combinations of Lemongrass and Star Anise Essential Oils and Their Main Constituent: Synergistic Housefly Repellency and Safety against Non-Target Organisms

“…aegypti and Ae . albopictus eggs) but were non-toxic to the tested non-target predators ( Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia reticulata ) [ 19 ].…”

“…Several combinations of EOs and their major constituents had high potential for use as green repellents against houseflies in that they were, at the time, more effective than DEET, a popular synthetic repellent, and they were safer repellents for humans, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic to non-target predators [ 19 , 20 ]. Consequently, this study was motivated to investigate the adult housefly and the repellency incurred by single-component and combinations of lemongrass and star anise EOs and their main active constituents.…”