Atividade larvicida de óleos essenciais contra Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

In the search for alternative chemical control against Aedes aegypti L., many researches are developed and encouraged in order to find new insecticidal plant substances. In this work, the larvicidal effect of ten essential oils was tested on A. aegypti. The oils were extracted by steam distillation and their chemical composition determined by GL-chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy. The essential oils were diluted in aqueous solutions of dimethyl sulfoxide with concentrations of: 100, 50, 10, and 1 mg/ml. The larvicidal activity, based on the percentage of larval mortality, was evaluated after 24h exposure to the treatments. The essential oil of Vanillosmopsis arborea Baker presented the highest larvicidal activity, with CL50 of 15.9 mg/ml and CL90 of 28.5 mg/ml. On the other hand the essential oil of O. gratissimum L. showed the lower activity with CL50 de 95,80 mg/ml and CL90 de 102,86 mg/ml. The results indicate that the tested essential oils, and particularly the V. arborea, are composed by substances with larvicidal properties for A. aegypti.