Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Insecticidal properties of Thymus persicus essential oil against Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus oryzae

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Pest Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae (L.) are considered to be the major insect pests in storage. Essential oils from aromatic plants are recognized as proper alternatives to fumigants. Thymus persicus (Ronniger ex Rech. f.) is one of these plants that have medicinal properties and is indigenous to Iran. The essential oil was obtained from aerial parts of the plant and analyzed by GC and GC–MS. Carvacrol (44.69%) and thymol (11.05%) were the major constituents of the oil extracted. In this experiment, fumigant toxicity of the essential oil was studied against T. castaneum, S. oryzae at 27 ± 1°C and 60 ± 5% RH in dark condition. The adult insects were exposed to the concentrations of 51.9, 111.1, 207.4 and 370.4 μl/l air to estimate median lethal time (LT50) values. The fumigant toxicity was increased in response to increased essential oil concentrations. The LT50 values at the lowest and the highest concentrations tested were ranged from 28.09 to 13.47 h for T. castaneum, and 3.86 to 2.30 h for S. oryzae. It was found that S. oryzae adults were much more susceptible to the oil than T. castaneum. After 24 h of exposure, the LC50 values (95% fiducial limit) for T. castaneum and S. oryzae were estimated to be 236.9 (186.27–292.81) and 3.34 (2.62–4.28) μl/l air, respectively. These results suggest that T. persicus essential oil merits further study as potential fumigant for the management of these stored-product insects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams RP (1995) Identification of essential oil components by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Allured Publishing Corporation, Carol Stream

    Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal RK, Singh KN, Sirvastava PK, Varma BK (1979) Assessment of storage losses in wheat and different refractions in periodic arrivals in mandis of Haryana. Bull Grain Technol 17:202–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahn YJ, Lee SB, Lee HS, Kim GH (1998) Insecticidal and acaricidal activity of carvacrol and β-thujaplicine derived from Thujopsis dolabrata var. Hondai sawdust. J Chem Ecol 24:81–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amin G (1991) Popular medicinal plants of Iran, vol 1. Research Deputy of Health Ministry, Tehran

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnason JT, Philogene BJR, Morand P, Imrie K, Iyengar S, Duval F, Soucy-Breau C, Scaiano JC, Werstiuk NH, Hasspieler B, Downe AER (1989) Naturally occurring and synthetic thiophenes asphotoactivated insecticides. In: Arnason JT, Philogene BJR, Morand P (eds) Insecticides of plant origin. ACS Symp series no 387. American Chemical Society, Washington DC, pp 164–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnard D (1999) Repellency of essential oils to mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). J Med Entomol 36:625–629

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell JF, Runnion C (2003) Patch exploitation by female red flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum. J Insect Sci 3(20) 8 pp. Available at http://www.insectscience.org/3.20

  • Choi W-S, Park B-S, Lee Y-H, Jang DY, Yoon HY, Lee S-E (2006) Fumigant toxicities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Lycoriella mali adults. Crop Prot 25:398–401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chokechaijaroenporn O, Bunyapraphatasara N, Kongschensis S (1994) Mosquito repellent activities of Ocimum volatie oils. Phytomedicine 1:135–139

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clemente S, Mareggiani G, Broussalis A, Martino V, Ferraro G (2003) Insecticidal effects of Lamiaceae species against stored products insects. Bol San Veg Plagas 29:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Daglish GJ, Eelkema M, Harrison LM (1996) Contorol of Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in paddy rice using chloropyrifos-methyl or fenintrothion in combination with several other protectants. J Stored Prod Res 32:247–253

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans DE (1987) Stored products. In: Burrn Aj, Coaker TH, Jepson PC (eds) Integrated pest management. Academic Press, London, pp 425–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Finney DJ (1971) Probit analysis, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedin PA, Hollingsworth RM, Masler EP, Miyamoto J, Thompson DG (1997) Phytochemicals for pest control, ACS Symp series no. 658. American Chemical Society, Washington DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hori M (2003) Repellency of essential oils against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). Appl Entomol Zool 38:467–473

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howe RW (1965) Losses caused by insects and mites in stored foods and food stuffs. Nutr Abs Rev 35:285–302

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hummelbrunner LA, Isman MB (2001) Acute, sublethal, antifeedant and synergistic effects of monoterpenoid essential oil compounds on the tobacco cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Lep., Noctuidae). J Agric Food Chem 49:715–720

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isman MB (2000) Plant essential oils for pest and disease management. Crop Prot 19:603–608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Isman MB (2006) Botanical insecticides, deterrents, and repellents in modern agriculture and an increasingly regulated world. Annu Rev Entomol 51:45–66

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isman MB, Machial CM, Miresmailli S, Bainard LD (2007) Essential oil-based pesticides: new insights from old chemistry. In: Ohkawa H, Miyagawa H, Lee P (eds) Pesticide chemistry. Wiley, Weinheim, pp 201–209

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jilani G, Saxena RC, Rueda BP (1998) Repellent and growth-inhibiting effects of turmic oil, sweetflag oil, neem oil, and Margosan-O on red flour beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). J Econ Entomol 81:1226–1230

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalemba D, Kurowska A, Gora J, Lis A (1991) Analysis of essential oils. infeluence of insects. Part V essential oils of berries of Juniper (Juniperus communis L.). Pstycydy 2:31–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim SI, Roh JY, Kim DH, Lee HS, Ahn YJ (2003) Insecticidal activities of aromatic plant extracts and essential oils against Sitophilus oryzae and Callosobrochus chinensis. J Stored Prod Res 39:293–303

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee BH, Choi WS, Lee SE, Park BS (2001) Fumigant toxicity of essential oils and their constituent compounds towards the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.). Crop Prot 20:317–320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naghibi F, Mosaddegh M, Mohammadi Motamed S, Ghorbani A (2005) Labiatae family in folk medicine in Iran: from ethnobotany to pharmacology. Iranian J Pharmaceut Res 2:63–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Negahban M, Moharramipoure S, Sefidkon F (2007) Fumigant toxicity of essential oil from Artemisia sieberi Besser against three stored-product insects. J Stored Prod Res 43:123–128

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nickavar B, Mojab F, Dolat-Abadi R (2005) Analysis of the essential oils of two Thymus species from Iran. Food Chem 90:609–611

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pascual-Villalobos MJ, Robledo A (1998) Screening for anti-insect activity in Mediterranean plants. Indust Crop Prod 8:183–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Passino GS, Bazzoni E, Moretti MDL (2004) Microencapsulated essential oils active against indianmeal moth. Bol San Veg Plagas 30:125–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasooli I, Rezaei MB, Allameh A (2006) Growth inhibition and morphological altrrations of Aspergillus niger by essential oils from Thymus eriocalyx and Thymus x-prolock. Food Contr 17:359–364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rechinger KH (1982) Flora iranica. vol 152, Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt, Graz

  • Regnault-Roger C, Hamraoui A (1995) Fumigant toxic activity and reproductive inhibition induced by monoterpenes on Acanthosceides obtectus (Say) (Coleoptera),a bruchid of kidney bean (phaseolus vulgaris L.). J Stored Prod Res 31:291–299

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Regnault-Roger C, Hamraoui A, Holeman M, Theron E, Pinel R (1993) Insecticidal effect of essential oils from mediterranean plants upon Acanthoscelides obtecus Say (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), a pest of kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). J Chem Ecol 19:1233–1244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (1996) SAS/STAT users guide, release 6.12. SAS Institute Inc, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmutterer H (1992) Control of diamondback moth by application of neem extracts. In: Talekar NS (ed) Diamondback moth and other crucifer pests. Proceedings of Second International Workshop Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center, Taipei, Taiwan, pp 325–332

  • Shaaya E, Ravid U, Paster N, Juven B, Zisman U, Pissarev V (1990) Fumigant toxicity of essential oils against four major stored-product insects. J Chem Ecol 17:499–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaaya E, Kostjukovski M, Eilberg J, Sukprakarn C (1997) Plant oils as fumigants and contact insecticides for the control of stored-product insects. J Stored Prod Res 33:7–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stahl-Biskup E, Saez F (2002) Thyme: The genus Thymus. Taylor and Francis, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Waliwitiya R, Isman M, Vernon B, Riseman A (2000) Insecticidal activity of thymol, citronellal, eugenol and rosemary oil to Agriotes obscurus (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in laboratory and greenhouse bioassays. Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of British Columbia, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie YS, Fields PG, Isman MB, Chen WK, Zhang X (1995) Insecticidal activity of Melia toosendan extracts and toosendanin against three stored-product insects. J Stored Prod Res 31:259–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, van Epenhuijsen CW (2004) Improved Envirosol fumigation methods for disinfesting export cut flowers and foliage crops. New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research Limited, Palmerston North

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Entomology, Tarbiat Modares University, P. O. Box 14115-336, Tehran, Iran

    Akram Taghizadeh Saroukolai & Saeid Moharramipour

  2. Faculty of Basic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran

    Mohammad Hadi Meshkatalsadat

Authors
  1. Akram Taghizadeh Saroukolai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Saeid Moharramipour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mohammad Hadi Meshkatalsadat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saeid Moharramipour.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Riudavets.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saroukolai, A.T., Moharramipour, S. & Meshkatalsadat, M.H. Insecticidal properties of Thymus persicus essential oil against Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus oryzae . J Pest Sci 83, 3–8 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-009-0261-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-009-0261-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation