Insecticidal and Repellency Properties of Eucalyptus sp. Essential Oil against Supella longipalpa (Dictyoptera: Blatellidae), An Important Vector of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, in Hospitals and Residential Areas

Due to environmental problems and public concerns arising from the use of chemical insecticides in the residential, safer alternative for urban pest controlling is considered seriously. So, the toxicity of essential oil of Eucalyptus sp. (Eucalyptus oil) was evaluated against the brown - banded cockroach, Supella lingipalpa (F.) in the present study. For this evaluation continuous contact to xicity, fumigant toxicity and repellency test were applied against older nymph instars of the brown - banded cockroach. The results showed that Eucalyptus oil caused 100% mortality in the cockroach nymph population at concentrations higher than 5% after 24 h using continuous contact bioassay, while no mortality was observed in control. The concentration of 2.8% (LD 50) and 5.7% (LD 95) were need for killing 50% and 95% of nymph population at 24 h after contact exposure. The fumigation bioassay also c aused 100% mortality of the nymph in less than 24h at concentration of 50 μl of pure essential oil per 1 - lit glass jar. Eucalyptus essential oil resulted in different repellency values of the cockroach at different concentrations. The highest repellency occurred in the concentration of 5%, resulting in 49.5% of the cockroach repellency. Compatibility of the Eucalyptus plant with the climate conditions of many areas of Iran including Khuzestan province, the essential oil of this plant can be c onsidered as a potential alternative to control of the cockroach in an integrated management program.