Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar 28;28(7):2998.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28072998.

Preliminary Study on Insecticidal Potential and Chemical Composition of Five Rutaceae Essential Oils against Thrips flavus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Tian-Hao Pei  1 , Yi-Jin Zhao  1 , Sheng-Yuan Wang  2 , Xiao-Feng Li  1 , Chen-Qi Sun  1 , Shu-Sen Shi  1 , Meng-Lei Xu  3 , Yu Gao  1
Affiliations

Preliminary Study on Insecticidal Potential and Chemical Composition of Five Rutaceae Essential Oils against Thrips flavus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Tian-Hao Pei et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

To meet the demand for novel pest management strategies to combat the development of insecticide resistance, plant essential oils may be a promising alternative source. This study investigated the insecticidal activity of five essential oils from the Rutaceae plant family against Thrips flavus Schrank (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) under laboratory conditions. The plant essential oils were citrus oil (Citrus reticulata Blanco), Chuan-shan pepper oil (Zanthoxylum piasezkii Maxim.), zanthoxylum oil (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.), pomelo peel oil (Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.) and orange leaf oil (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck). Among the essential oils evaluated, orange leaf oil (LC50 = 0.26 g/L), zanthoxylum oil (LC50 = 0.27 g/L), and pomelo peel oil (LC50 = 0.44 g/L) resulted in a higher gastric toxicity under laboratory conditions. The results of the pot experiment also showed that orange leaf oil (93.06 ± 3.67% at 540.00 g a.i.·hm-2, 97.22 ± 1.39% at 720 g a.i.·hm-2, 100.00% at 900.00 g a.i.·hm-2) zanthoxylum oil (98.73 ± 1.27% at 900 g a.i.·hm-2), and pomelo peel oil (100.00% at 900 g a.i.·hm-2) exhibited a higher control efficacy, being the most effective against T. flavus after 7 days of treatment. The essential oil components were then identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The insecticidal activity of orange leaf oil, pomelo peel oil, and zanthoxylum oil could be attributed to their main constituents, such as methyl jasmonate (50.92%), D-limonene (76.96%), and linalool (52.32%), respectively. In the olfactory test, adult T. flavus were attracted by zanthoxylum oil and Chuan-shan pepper oil. We speculated that linalool might be the key signaling compound that attracts T. flavus. These results showed that orange leaf oil, zanthoxylum oil, and pomelo peel oil exhibited insecticidal activities under controlled conditions. They can be implemented as effective and low-toxicity botanical insecticides and synergistic agents against T. flavus.

Keywords: Thrips flavus; essential oil; gastric toxicity; insecticidal activity; thrips.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Olfactory behavioral response of Thrips flavus to five Rutaceae essential oils.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nickle D.A. Commonly intercepted thrips at US ports of entry from Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean. III. The genus Thrips Linnaeus, 1758 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 2008;110:165–185. doi: 10.4289/0013-8797-110.1.165. - DOI
    1. Minaei K. Thrips (Insecta, Thysanoptera) of Iran: A revised and updated checklist. ZooKeys. 2013;330:53–74. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.330.5939. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mound L., Collins D., Hastings A. Thysanoptera Britannica et Hibernica–Thrips of the British Isles. Identic Pty Ltd.; Coolangatta, QLD, Australia: 2018. [(accessed on 21 May 2021)]. Available online: https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/british_thrips/
    1. Boonham N., Smith P., Walsh K., Tame J., Morris J., Spence N., Bennison J., Barker I. The detection of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in individual thrips using real time fluorescent RT-PCR (TaqMan) J. Virol. Methods. 2002;101:37–48. doi: 10.1016/S0166-0934(01)00418-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Singh S.J., Krishanareddy M. Watermelon bud necrosis: A new tospovirus disease. Acta Hortic. 1996;431:68–77. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1996.431.6. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources