The common housefly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) is a cosmopolitan pest of a major medical and veterinary
importance acting as a mechanical vector of pathogens. This study evaluated the toxicity of six essential oils against
adult M. domestica through contact/fumigant toxicity bioassays. The most effective oil was radish, followed by
camphor, mustard, thyme, garlic, and rosemary. The mortality (MO)% 60 min, post-treatment (PT) with 2% of camphor,
garlic, mustard, radish, rosemary, and thyme oils were 90.00, 83.33, 86.66, 93.33, 83.33, and 86.66%, respectively.
After treatment for one hour, the median lethal concentration, LC50 of camphor, garlic, mustard, radish, rosemary, and
thyme were 0.305, 0.450, 0.366, 0.250, 0.475, and 0.405%, respectively. The corresponding LC99 values were 2.54,
3.19, 2.92, 2.30, 3.14, and 2.96%, respectively. Their toxicity indices were 81.97, 55.56, 68.31, 100.00, 52.63, and
61.73%, respectively. After treatment with 2%, their median lethal time (LT50) values were 16.52, 19.99, 18.29, 16.44,
18.73, and 17.92 min, respectively. The adulticidal effect of radish, mustard, camphor, and rosemary against house flies
had a novelty record and the current investigation concluded that all applied oils were effective adulticides. Radish oil
was the most potent oil followed by camphor, mustard, and thyme, whereas garlic and rosemary were less effective oils;
therefore, the promising oils merit further investigations regarding their field application and ecotoxicological studies. |
