Essential oils of a few aromatic plants and their potential as knockdown, repellent and adulticidal agent to the filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae)

Use of synthetic products for the control of mosquito vectors raises serious concern about their negative impact on the environment, non-target organisms and human safety. Alternatively, the use of several natural products, particularly plant based essential oils have gained attention due to their good efficacy and ecofriendly nature. The adult knockdown effect and repellent activities of essential oils derived from three selected plants on Culex quinquefasciatus were evaluated. Data processing was performed using probit analysis. The results showed that essential oils from all the selected plants exhibited considerable knockdown effect on Cx. quinquefasciatus. In addition to this, all plant derived essential oils showed repellent activity which was significant in all concentrations. It is suggested that essential oils derived from Citrus limon were found to be very active as mosquito repellent.