Larvicidal Effects of Four Citrus Peel Essential Oils Against the Arbovirus Vector Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

In this study, we evaluated the larvicidal activity of four citrus essential oils (EOs; sweet orange, mandarin, bergamot, and lemon) against the arbovirus vector Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses, we found that in sweet orange, mandarin, and lemon EOs, limonene was the most abundant compound, whereas linalyl acetate was the most abundant in the bergamot EO. All tested EOs showed a marked larvicidal activity, in particular sweet orange, lemon, and bergamot that killed all treated larvae. After 24 h of exposure, the LC50 values of the tested citrus EOs ranged from 145.27 (lemon EO) to 318.07mg liter(-1) (mandarin EO), while LC95 ranged from 295.13 to 832.44mg liter(-1). After 48 h of exposure, the estimated LC50 values decreased to values ranging from 117.29 to 209.38mg liter(-1), while LC95 ranged from 231.85 to 537.36 mg liter(-1). The results obtained from these evaluations, together with the large availability at reasonable costs of citrus EOs, are promising for the potential development of a new botanical mosquitocide.