Effectiveness of some Essential oils on Aphis fabae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) under laboratory conditions

Sadek, Hanaa; Abouamer, Waleed; Elbehery, Huda; Essa, Tarek; Khater, Hanem; Abozeid, Samia

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2025.354100.11194

Effectiveness of some Essential oils on Aphis fabae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) under laboratory conditions

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ National research centre

² Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt

³ Pests and Plant Protection Department, Institute of Agricultural and Biological Research, National Research Centre, Cairo 12622, Egypt

⁴ National Research Centre

⁵ Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt

⁶ Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI) Agriculture Research Centre (ARC), Cairo 12618, Egypt.

10.21608/ejchem.2025.354100.11194

Abstract

Alternatives to synthetic pesticides are crucial, particularly for targeting aphids, a significant pest in agriculture. Essential oils of plants cultivated in Egypt, such as Mentha arvensis, Rosmarinus officinalis, and Cyperus rotundus weeds, were used in the current study as bioinsecticides against Aphis fabae Scopoli and to solve ecological or environmental hazards. Analyzing the volatile constituents of the essential oils extracted through hydrodistillation using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry revealed the presence of 19 components representing 98.39% of the total M. arvensis oil, 20 compounds constituting 99.1% of the total R. officinalis oil, and 20 volatiles with the sum of 0.1% of the C. rotundus oil. The major components found were menthol (25.58%), menthone (18.49%), isomenthone (13.32%), and carvone (10.21%) in M. arvensis oil; 1,8-cineole (25.14%), isoborneol (16.21%), α-pinene (10.37%), α-terpineol (7.81%), and camphor (6.89%) in R. officinalis oil; and α-pinene (10.65%), α-cyperone (7.82%), and caryophyllene oxide (6.50%) in C. rotundus oil. The essential oils showed varying toxicity against A. fabae immature stages. M. arvensis was the most effective, achieving 100% nymphal mortality at 2.5%, followed by C. rotundus (96.67%) at the same concentration. At lower concentrations (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0%), M. arvensis also demonstrated significant efficacy (63.33-80%), while C. rotundus and R. officinalis exhibited comparable toxicity (36.67-66.67%). The lowest LC50 was found for M. arvensis at 0.393%, with C. rotundus and R. officinalis having similar values of 0.828 and 0.764%, respectively. The oils studied show promise for integrated aphid management if specific usage conditions and dosages are followed.

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