Insecticidal and feeding deterrent activities of essential oils in the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

Ten essential oils were tested against the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni larvae for contact, residual and fumigant toxicities and feeding deterrent effects. Against third instar T. ni, Syzygium aromaticum (LD50 = 47.8 μg/larva), Thymus vulgaris (LD50 = 52.0 μg/larva) (the two positive controls) and Cinnamomum glanduliferum (LD50 = 76.0 μg/larva) were the most toxic via topical application. Litsea pungens (LD50 = 87.1 μg/larva), Ilex purpurea (LD50 = 94.0 μg/larva), Cinnamomum cassia (LD50 = 101.5 μg/larva) and Litsea cubeba (LD50 = 112.4 μg/larva) oils were equitoxic. Thymus vulgaris (LC50 = 4.8 mg/ml) and S. aromaticum (LC50 = 6.0 mg/ml) oils were the most toxic in residual bioassays. Cymbopogon citratus (LC50 = 7.7 mg/ml) and C. cassia (LC50 = 8.5 mg/ml) oils were equitoxic followed by Cymbopogon nardus (LC50 = 10.1 mg/ml) in this bioassay. The remaining five oils showed little or no residual effects. In a fumigation bioassay, L. cubeba (LC50 = 16.5 μl/l) and I. purpurea (LC50 = 22.2 μl/l) oils were the most toxic. Cinnamomum glanduliferum (LC50 = 29.7 μl/l) and Sabina vulgaris (LC50 = 31.2 μl/l) oils were equitoxic. Interestingly, S. aromaticum did not exhibit any fumigant toxicity. Cymbopogon citratus, C. nardus and C. cassia strongly deterred feeding by third instar T. ni (DC50s = 26.9, 33.8 and 39.6 μg/cm2, respectively) in a leaf disc choice bioassay. The different responses of T. ni larvae to the oils in different bioassays suggest that these essential oils exhibit different modes of action. Based on their comparable efficacy with essential oils already used as active ingredients in many commercial insecticides (i.e. clove oil and thyme oil), some of these essential oils may have potential as botanical insecticides against T. ni.

Chemical composition and insecticidal activities of essential oils against diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae)

“…However, mean per cent FDI was not differed significantly between the interactions of essential oils and concentrations (F 135, 8 = 0.64; p > 0.05). The present results supported by Jiang et al (2012) who reported the essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus, C. nardus and C. cassia showed strong feeding deterrent against larvae of Trichoplusia ni. Similarly, asarones isolated from the essential oil of A. calamus rhizomes also showed antifeedant to Peridroma saucia (Koul et al 1990).…”

“…Besides, essential oils are potentially suitable for integrated pest management programmes. Insecticidal activity of essential oils has been reported against cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Jiang et al 2012), armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Akhtar et al 2008) and stored product pests (Dales 1996). Intensive use of chemical insecticides for the control of Plutella xylostella has led to this pest developing resistance to a wide range of insecticides and caused serious damage to natural enemies (Ke et al 1991;Talekar & Shelton 1993).…”

Contact, fumigant, and cytotoxic activities of thyme and lemongrass essential oils against larvae and an ovarian cell line of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni

“…Variations in chemical composition owing to seasonal or geographic differences, growth conditions, and extraction methods for thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oil (Senatore 1996;Hudaib et al 2002;Asllani and Toska 2003) and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf.) essential oil (Zheljazkov et al 2011;Desai et al 2014;Moncada et al 2014) are well documented, along with their insecticidal activity (Lee et al 2001;Machial et al 2010;Jiang et al 2012), repellence (Diaz-Montano andTrumble 2013;Zhang et al 2013), and physiological impact such as insect larval growth or feeding deterrence (Hummelbrunner and Isman 2001;Jiang et al 2012) as well as acaricidal activity (Sertkaya et al 2010). Although many screening data highlighted the merit of both essential oils as insect control agents, understandings of the activities of individual constituents and their comparative contributions to the overall toxicity are vital in the considerations of candidate oils as for practical use (i.e., determinations of cultivation condition, commercialization, or quality control).…”

Perfil químico y biológico de aceites esenciales de plantas aromáticas de interés agro-industrial en Castilla-La Mancha (España)

“…Estos AEs son mezclas muy complejas, alrededor de 50 compuestos, de monoterpenos, sesquiterpenos, aldehídos, cetonas y fenoles (Isman et al, 2010). Los monoterpenos son las moléculas más abundantes, llegando a representar hasta el 90% del aceite (Thripathi et al, 2009).…”

“…Por ello, resulta muy complicado establecer relaciones estructura-actividad al no poder correlacionar la actividad encontrada con los componentes mayoritarios del aceite. Este comportamiento ha sido descrito en la actividad antialimentaria de aceites esenciales de Lavandula luisieri Rozeira (Gonzá-lez-Coloma et al, 2011) y T. vulgaris (Jiang et al, 2010) así como en el estudio de la actividad tóxica y antialimentaria de 12 monoterpenos presentes en la composición de la mayoría de los aceites esenciales (Hummelbrunner e Isman, 2001). En este sentido, se ha corroborado que la combinación de p-cimeno + carvacrol es capaz de aumentar 8 veces la actividad tóxica fumigante frente a S. littoralis cuando se compara la actividad de la mezcla con la de los componentes individuales (Pavela, 2010).…”