Abstract

The house fly, Musca domestica L., is a common pest in domestic, medical, and veterinary settings. Traditional control methods involving the use of synthetic insecticides have led to resistance and harmed both the environment and human health. Hence, control alternatives are needed, and essential oils have shown contact insecticidal, fumigant, and repellent activities. The objective of this research was to assess, under laboratory conditions, the contact, fumigant, and repellent activities of essential oils of Citrus xlimon (L.) Osbeck, Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume, and Mentha xpiperita L. against adults and larvae of houseflies. The major components in each essential oil were limonene (64.8%; C. limon), cinnamaldehyde (76.1%; C. zeylanicum), and menthol (74.92%; M. piperita). The highest contact toxicity was achieved by C. zeylanicum and M. piperita, both with a CL50 = 1.5 mu L mL(-1) water in larvae, and C. limon LC50 = 2.5 mu L mL(-1) water in adults. However, the treatments did not significantly differ. In the fumigant bioassay, C. zeylanicum in larvae (LC50 = 1.9 mu L L(-1 )air) and adults (LC50 = 2.8 mu L L-1 air) was the most toxic but was not significantly different from the other treatments. All the treatments resulted in repellent effects, but only the 10% (v/v) concentration resulted in 90% repelled insects. We concluded that C. limon, C. zeylanicum, and M. piperita are effective insecticides and repellents for M. domestica.