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. 2022 Aug;29(8):103350.
doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103350. Epub 2022 Jun 16.

Larvicidal and adulticidal activity of essential oils from plants of the Lamiaceae family against the West Nile virus vector, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)

Hanan Abo El-Kasem Bosly  1
Affiliations

Larvicidal and adulticidal activity of essential oils from plants of the Lamiaceae family against the West Nile virus vector, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)

Hanan Abo El-Kasem Bosly. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Culex pipiens mosquitoes are the most widely distributed primary vector of the West Nile virus worldwide. Many attempts for investigation of botanical pesticides to avoid the development of pesticide resistance to conventional synthetic pesticides that are recognized as a threat to the diversity of ecosystems. The study aimed to determine the components of three essential oils of Lamiaceae family, lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Furthermore, aimed to validate the insecticidal activities of these oils as larvicidal agents against the third instar larvae of Culex pipiens using five different concentrations (62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 ppm) for each oil in five replicates and as an adulticidal agent against approximately three-day-old female adults of Cx. Pipiens using 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 5% concentrations in three replicates. The results generally showed a dose-related response. At 1000 ppm, rosemary oil showed the highest larvicidal (100%) (LC50, 214.97 ppm), followed by peppermint oil (92.00% mortality and LC50 (269.35 ppm). Lavender oil showed the lowest efficacy with 87.20% mortality and LC50 (301.11 ppm). At 5% oil concentration, the highest knockdown rate at 1 h was recorded for lavender oil (95.55%), followed by peppermint oil (88.89%) and lastly rosemary oil (84.44%). After 24 h, rosemary oil showed the lowest adult mortality rate (88.89%; LC50, 1.44%), while lavender and peppermint oils both showed a 100% mortality rate, with (LC50, 0.81% and 0.91%, respectively). The chemical constituents of the oils consisted of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes that determined their insecticidal activities against the target insect stage. The study proposed that rosemary essential oil may be useful for the control of Cx. pipiens larvae as part of an integrated water treatment strategy, and lavender and peppermint oils may be used in an integrated plan for adult's control.

Keywords: Culex pipiens; Essential oils; Insecticidal; Lavender; Peppermint; Rosemary.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Probit regression responses of lavender, peppermint and rosemary essential oils against Culex pipiens larval mortality.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Knockdown rate (mortality %) of lavender, peppermint and rosemary essential oils against Culex pipiens female adults. Significant differences at 0.05 level between different superscript letters to means of the same oil.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Probit regression responses of lavender, peppermint and rosemary essential oils against Culex pipiens adult mortality.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The TIC chromatograms of lavender, peppermint and rosemary essential oils chemical constituents detected by GC–MS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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