Repellency, Fumigant Toxicity, Antifeedent and Residual Activities of <i>Coridothymus capitatus</i> and Its Main Component Carvacrol against Red Flour Beetle
Hassan M. Eltalawy,
Huda El-Fayoumi,
Shawky M. Aboelhadid,
Saleh Al-Quraishy,
Almahy M. El-Mallah,
Fatma Tunali,
Atalay Sokmen,
Dimitra Daferera,
Abdel-Azeem S. Abdel-Baki
Affiliations
Hassan M. Eltalawy
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt
Huda El-Fayoumi
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt
Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 12211, Saudi Arabia
Almahy M. El-Mallah
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt
Fatma Tunali
Department of Pharmacy, Botanic Garden “Giardino dei Semplici”, “G. d’Annunzio” University, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Atalay Sokmen
Department of Plant Production and Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Konya Food and Agriculture University, Konya 42080, Turkey
Dimitra Daferera
Laboratory of General Chemistry, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece
Abdel-Azeem S. Abdel-Baki
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62511, Egypt
Tribolium castaneum is a challenging pest of stored products, causing significant economic losses. The present study explored the efficacy of Coridothymus capitatus essential oil and its primary constituent, carvacrol, as eco-friendly alternatives for managing this pest. To evaluate their insecticidal potential, repellency, fumigant toxicity, and antifeedant properties, progeny inhibition assays were performed. Carvacrol exhibited superior repellency compared to the essential oil, achieving a 92% repellency rate at 2 mg/cm2. Both compounds demonstrated significant fumigant toxicity against T. castaneum, with LC50 values of 168.47 and 106.5 μL/L for the essential oil and carvacrol, respectively, after 24 h. Carvacrol also outperformed the essential oil in antifeedant activity, inducing an 80.7% feeding deterrence at 1.17 mg/g. Moreover, both treatments effectively suppressed the development of the pest’s progeny. These results collectively underscore the potent insecticidal properties of C. capitatus essential oil and carvacrol, particularly carvacrol, as promising candidates for the sustainable management of T. castaneum in stored product protection.
