Miticidal and repellent activity of twenty plant essential oils against the adults of two spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, were examined. Sandalwood oil was the most potent one in mortality, whereas clary sage oil exhibited the greatest repellent activity. On those twenty essential oils tested, no apparent correlation between toxicity and repellency was observed. The chemical compositions of sandalwood and clary sage oils were identified via GC/MS analyses. The major constituents of sandalwood oils were sesquiterpene compounds, whereas the major ones for clary sage oil were monoterpenes. Among the major components in clary sage oil, linalyl acetate was not only the most abundant constituent, but also the most responsible one for its repellent activity against the adults of the two spotted spider mites. Nevertheless, the combination of seven major constituents of clary sage oil showed lesser repellent activity than the original essential oil did, implying the presence of interactions between the major and minor constituents affecting the overall repellent activity of the crude oil.

• Junho Yoon(Department of Applied Biology and Chemistry, Seoul National University)
• Jun-Hyung Tak(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Research Institute of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Seoul National University)