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Repellence of essential oils of aromatic plants growing in Argentina against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

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Abstract

Mosquitoes are vectors of pathogens to humans and domestic animals and may also have economical impacts. One approach to prevent mosquito-borne diseases is bite deterrence through the application of repellents. Currently, there is an interest to search for alternative bioactive products to the synthetic active ingredients most widely used in insect repellents. Repellence against Aedes aegypti of essential oils extracted from Acantholippia salsoloides, Aloysia catamarcensis, Aloysia polystachya, Lippia integrifolia, Lippia junelliana (Verbenaceae), Baccharis salicifolia, Euphatorium buniifolium, and Tagetes filifolia (Asteraceae) were assessed. Tests were conducted by alternatively exposing untreated and treated forehand to the mosquitoes and counting probing attempts. All essential oils tested were significantly repellent against A. aegypti when compared to untreated controls; L. junelliana was the most repellent and T. filifolia was the least based on the response of the mosquitoes to different concentrations of the essential oils (EO). Repellence may be attributed to the respective main components of each EO.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to F. Biurrun from Universidad Nacional de La Rioja who provided plant material from that province, and thank Fundación Mundo Sano for the partial funding. RMG and JAZ are Career Members of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and their contributions were also funded by that institution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Relevamiento y Evaluación de Recursos Agrícolas y Naturales (CREAN), Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Valparaíso s.n., Córdoba, 5016, Argentina

    Raquel M. Gleiser & Maria A. Bonino

  2. IMBIV-CONICET, Cátedra de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina

    Julio A. Zygadlo

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  1. Raquel M. Gleiser
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  2. Maria A. Bonino
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  3. Julio A. Zygadlo
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Correspondence to Raquel M. Gleiser.

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Gleiser, R.M., Bonino, M.A. & Zygadlo, J.A. Repellence of essential oils of aromatic plants growing in Argentina against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 108, 69–78 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2042-4

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