ABSTRACT
The insect Dysmicoccus brevipes (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) has been reported as an important pest for several crops, especially coffee. The citrus essential oils can be obtained as by-products of the citrus-processing industry and have been tested as an alternative to control different insect groups. Therefore, the objective of this work was to determine the chemical composition and evaluate the toxicity of commercial sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) and Sicilian lemon (Citrus limon) essential oils and pure monoterpene D-limonene on D. brevipes. The essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography. Two bioassays were conducted; the first assessing the insect mortality in all oils and the second assessing the lethal concentrations (LC50 and LC95) of the most effective oils. The main components of the oils were D-limonene (83.33%) and Linalool (8.91%) (sweet orange); D-limonene (78.53%) and γ-terpinene (12.65%) (bitter orange); D-limonene (59.78%), beta-pinene (14.71%) and γ-terpinene (10.19%) (Sicilian lemon) and the compound D-limonene had 97% of purity. The highest mortalities were found with the use of the Sicilian lemon (98.68%) and sweet orange (94.11%)oils. The sweet orange oil presented lethal concentrations at 2.21% (LC50) and 3.55% (LC95), and the Sicilian lemon oil at 0.72% (LC50) and 2.91% (LC95). The main component of the sweet orange and Sicilian lemon essential oils was the D-limonene, and the Sicilian lemon oil was most effective oil to control D. brevipes.
Keywords:
Cochineal; Mortality; Natural products.