Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major concern in the southern United States.  Louisiana ranked third behind Texas and California for the number of West Nile virus cases reported in 2012.  New and more innovative solutions are needed to control or eradicate mosquitoes that vector these disease pathogens.  As a part of our ongoing conservation efforts, we examined the mosquitocidal activity of the essential oil of several plant species native to southwest Louisiana.  Monarda fistulosa (beebalm) is a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family which is known for producing wide range of volatile insecticidal compounds.  In preliminary Petri dish assays, female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were exposed to the cut plant parts of M. fistulosa.  Mosquitoes exposed to the buds exhibited 100% mortality 24 h post exposure.  We obtained the essential oils from the leaves, stems and buds of M. fistulosa by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus.  The GC-MS analysis of the leaves identified carvacrol, 1-octen-3-ol and p-cymene as the major components of the leaves.  In contrast the major volatile components of the stems were carvacrol and borneol.  This study describes the evaluation and quantification of the essential oil derived from the leaves, stems and buds of M. fistulosa for mosquitocidal activity using a Petri dish contact assay.

Composition and mosquitocidal activity of the essential oil of <i>Monarda fistulosa </i>(Beebalm)

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Composition and mosquitocidal activity of the essential oil of Monarda fistulosa (Beebalm)