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 318.07 mg liter−1 (mandarin EO), while LC95 ranged from 295.13 to 832.44 mg liter−1. After 48 h of exposure, the estimated LC50 values decreased to values ranging from 117.29 to 209.38 mg 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.