Exposure to major components of essential oils and their mixtures cause mortality, sublethal effect and behavioral disturbance of Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: curculionidae)

Abstract

The Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is an internal primary pest of stored grains of great economic importance. Few insecticides registered for fumigation control for S. zeamais exist, which makes it necessary to search for more control alternatives. Thus, the objective of this work was to assess acute toxicity, sublethal effect, survival and behavioral response of the major components of essential oils, Thymol, Camphora, Terpineol, Canpheno, Eucalyptol, Limonene, β Pinene and Eugenol; and the mixtures of these components on S. zeamais. The results showed that the mixtures of the major components caused acute toxicity, reduced survival time and offspring production, in addition to altering the behavioral activity of S. zeamais. The mixture Camphor + Canphene presented a synergistic effect, with LC50 and LC90 of 2.77 and 20.34 µl/ml, respectively. The mixtures of the major components proved to be promising products for the control of S. zeamais.