Larvicidal Activity of Essential Oils of Five Apiaceae Taxa and Some of Their Main Constituents Against Culex quinquefasciatus

Abstract

Apiaceae are aromatic herbs producing essential oils which are used on an industrial scale for various purposes. Notably, Apiaceae essential oils may replace synthetic insecticides keeping most of their efficacy and avoiding environmental pollution and human poisoning. In the present work, we explored the insecticidal potential of the essential oils from five Apiaceae taxa, namely Sison amomum, Echinophora spinosa, Heracleum sphondylium subsp. sphondylium, Heracleum sphondylium subsp. ternatum, and Trachyspemum ammi, as well as their major constituents (sabinene, p-cymene, terpinolene, myristicin, and thymol), against the filariasis vector Culex quinquefasciatus. For the purpose, the essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and their composition was achieved by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Their acute toxicity on third instar larvae of C. quinquefasciatus was determined. The two most active essential oils were those from T. ammi fruits and E. spinosa roots, showing LC 50 below 20 ll/l and LD 90 below 50 ll/l. These oils were dominated by the monoterpene phenol thymol and the phenylpropanoid myristicin, respectively, which showed the strongest larvicidal activity (LC 50 of 15.1 and 16.3 ll/l, respectively) among the pure compounds tested. These results showed that Apiaceae may be useful as source of larvicidal compounds to be used for the development of cheap, effective and eco-friendly insecticidal formulations.

Essential oils from three Algerian medicinal plants (Artemisia campestris, Pulicaria arabica, and Saccocalyx satureioides) as new botanical insecticides?

“…It has also been reported that the effect of thymol may be enhanced by the presence of pcymene (Burt 2004). However, it is surprising that this kind of oil did not produce relevant toxicity on C. quinquefasciatus and M. domestica, as previously seen for other oils with similar chemical profile or for the pure compound itself Pavela et al 2018b). Thus, we can assume that the other constituents may antagonize the mosquitocidal effects of thymol.…”

Developing a Highly Stable Carlina acaulis Essential Oil Nanoemulsion for Managing Lobesia botrana

“…EOs repellence [ 17 , 18 ], larvicidal [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], and insecticidal activities are proven on different arthropod pests of economic importance [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Among them, the EOs’ efficacy has also been investigated on some Lepidoptera.…”

Origanum vulgare Terpenoids Induce Oxidative Stress and Reduce the Feeding Activity of Spodoptera littoralis

“…Monoterpenes such as thymol and carvacrol show LD 50 values of 25 and 43 μg·larvae −1 , respectively, when tested on early four-instar Spodoptera litura and the LD 50 of these monoterpenes increases with the larval development [ 16 ]. The toxicity of these monoterpenes is higher versus Spodoptera littoralis, Plutella xylostella , Callosobruchus maculatus and Culex quinquefasciatus , with LD 50 values as low as 0.22 μg·larvae −1 [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], whereas thymol and carvacrol toxicity versus Sitophilus granarius is lower, with LD 50 above 100 μg·larvae −1 [ 22 , 23 ]. Toxic synergistic effects of thymol and carvacrol with other monoterpenes have been also described [ 24 ].…”