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

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.