Exploring the Insecticide and Acaricide Potential of Development Regulators obtained from Restinga vegetation from Brazil

Abstract

As a part of our continuing search for insect and arthropod development regulators from Brazilian restinga vegetation of the Rio de Janeiro State, crude extracts, purified fractions and essential oils were submitted to screening tests seeking for biological activities on the development of the insects Rhodnius prolixus, Dysdercus peruvianus, Oncopeltus fasciatus and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Up to now, 102 secondary metabolites have been detected in the fractions, among them monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and two triterpenes which were obtained from the species, Eugenia sulcata, Pilocarpus spicatus, Manilkara subsericea, Myrciaria floribunda and Zanthoxylum caribaeum. These secondary plant metabolites are considered of interest for the use of studies related to arthropod endocrinology, vectorparasite interaction system, and population control of vector insect and agricultural pest. The observed biological activities were surprisingly high, involving increased mortality, molting and metamorphosis inhibition, paralysis, corporeal deformities, apparition of permanent nymphs, of adultoids and juvenoids, partial or total inhibition of oviposition and egg hatching. These compounds are now being studied further to determine if they may or may not be useful in controlling insect populations and/or interfere with the life cycle and vector transmission of parasites to animal and human populations.

Insecticidal activity of Pilocarpus spicatus Saint-Hilaire (Rutaceae) essential oil against the crop pest Dysdercus peruvianus (Guérin-Méneville, 1831) and Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas, 1852)

“…Such over-aged or supernumerary nymphs of hemimetabolous insects with greatly extended instar stages can survive for several weeks but are unable to undergo metamorphosis and reproduce (Tietbohl, et al, 2020). These effects are usually induced by compounds that interfere in insect development by a neuroendocrine route, inhibiting the synthesis of the molting hormone, ecdysone (Dorn, et al, 1986;Feder, et al, 2019) or by directly disrupting chitin synthesis (Merzendorfer, 2006). Similar data were also reported in other studies.…”

Chemical Composition and Variability of the Volatile Components of Myrciaria Species Growing in the Amazon Region

“…Profile III grouped the hydrodistilled oils Mflo-7 (stems) and Mflo-11 (flowers) from a specimen sampled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, characterized by significant contents of 2 E ,6 Z -farnesol (13.1–16.1%), and 2 E ,6 E -farnesyl acetate (19.9–13.4%) [ 24 , 25 ]. The other hydrodistilled oils, Mflo-3, Mflo-5, Mflo-6, and Mflo-9 (leaves) [ 26 ], Mflo-4 (fruits) [ 27 ], Mflo-8 (flowers) [ 25 ], and Mflo-10 (stems) [ 25 ], sampled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were distinguished from one another, representing chemical profiles with the following characteristics: Profile IV (Mflo-3), E -nerolidol (32.4%) and β-selinene (9.8%); Profile V (Mflo-4), δ-cadinene (26.9%) and γ-cadinene (15.7%); Profile VI (Mflo-5), 1,8-cineole (10.4%) and β-selinene (8.4%); Profile VII (Mflo-6), 1,8-cineole (38.4%), γ-himachalene (7.0%); Profile VIII (Mflo-8), 1,8-cineole (22.8%), 2 E ,6 Z -farnesol (16.1%); Profile IX (Mflo-9), γ-himachalene (7.0%), α-terpineol (5.5%); Profile X (Mflo-10), germacra-4(15),5,10(14)-trien-1α-ol (19.9%) and 2 E ,6 E -farnesyl acetate (13.1%). As was seen, the eleven M. floribunda specimens showed chemical variability in their essential oils, which can be related to the collection sites and parts of the extracted plants.…”

Compostos químicos isolados de extratos e óleos essenciais do gênero Zanthoxylum Linnaeus (Rutaceae) e seu potencial antimicrobiano

“…A análise do óleo essencial obtido a partir das folhas de Z. caribaeum forneceu os seguintes componentes: D-limoneno (12), linalool (13), espatulenol (14), β-cariofileno (16), α-muurolol (22), α-cadinol (23), copaeno (24), β-Bourboneno (25), n-hexanol (32), α-tujeno (33), sabineno (34), α-pineno (35), β-mirceno (36), β-E-ocimeno (37), α-felandreno 38 (Nogueira et al 2014b, Souza et al 2017, Feder et al 2019.…”