Future potential of plant essential oils in the control of the medically relevant mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae

Current mosquito control techniques involve the use of large quantities of synthetic insecticides to control mosquitoes populations in areas where disease epidemics are likely to happen or have already occurred. While this method has worked in the past, the increase in insecticide-resistant mosquito populations is complicating the effectiveness of this approach. Plant essential oils offer a diverse array of compounds that possess the ability to kill or deter insects by many different modes of action. The goal of our study was to determine if plant essential oils could be used to kill or repel mosquitoes. To test this, we screened a series of plant essential oils against two major disease vectors, the Aedes aegypti mosquito and the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, by means of topical application and repellency assays. Toxicity and repellency profiles of the oils differed significantly both within and between species. We propose that these differences are due to diverse and potentially novel mechanisms of action over current synthetic insecticides. These studies suggest the possibility of implementing such essential oils in future mosquito control efforts.