Repellent activity of citrus oils against the cockroaches Blattella germanica, Periplaneta americana and P. fuliginosa

The repellent efficacy of 17 essential oils against the German cockroach, Blattella germanica was examined using a T-tube olfactometer. Five oils repelled B. germanica with good efficacy, ranging from 70.0 to 96.7%. Four of these oils, grapefruit, lemon, lime, and orange, were from the citrus family Rutaceae. These citrus essential oils showed similar repellent activity against two more cockroach species, such as Periplaneta americana and P. fuliginosa. Gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry analyses revealed that the major components responsible for the repellent activity of the citrus oils were limonene, beta-pinene and gamma-terpinene. Limonene appears to be the main component responsible for the repellent activity rather than beta-pinene and gamma-terpinene. The repellent efficacy of these components varied with different doses and the cockroach species tested. It is likely that minor components of the oils also contributed to the overall repellent activity of citrus essential oils, except orange oil. The activity of orange oil is almost solely attributed to the activity of limonene. Also, the repellent activity of citrus oil and that of each of the terpenoids makes little difference to the efficacy of a repellant against the three species of cockroaches. (c) Pesticide Science Society of Japan