To mitigate the intrusion of insect pests, behavioral modifications using repellents are commonly employed. Among their active ingredients, plant essential oils have gained prominence as safer alternatives to synthetic repellents. However, the absence of rigorous scientific efficacy testing have been undermined the reliability of these essential oil based repellent products. Previous studies have highlighted that the observed repellency in bioassays are strongly influenced by the testing environment. Our research introduces three distinct laboratory-scaled repellency test methods – spatial repellency, choice repellency in a closed and opened environment – to evaluate prevalent insect repellent products. Notably, we observed significant variations in repellency percentages among products. The most effective product from each method was identified, and its active ingredients were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, by GC-MS analyses. To determine the applicability of these methods in selecting active ingredient concentrations, individual active ingredient components underwent dose-response testing. Our findings suggest that, when selected appropriately, these three methods can be applied for the development and evaluation of potent essential oil based repellent products.

The repeated use of biocidal products, including household insecticides and disinfectants, has led people to seek safer alternatives, such as light traps, ultrasound generators, or repellent lamps. By appearances, these physical/non-chemical alternatives seem appealing to many consumers and are gaining more attention. However, unlike biocidal products, these alternatives are not subject to mandatory approval and registration processes, and no standards for efficacy and safety are in place. Given the increasing numbers of insect traps on the market, there is an urgent need to investigate their efficacy. In the present study, we examined the attraction activity of ten commercially available insect trap products. They varied in size, structure, trapping methods (fan or sticky pad), and attractants. Their efficacies were assessed under both laboratory condition (1.8m x 1.8m x 1.8m) and semi-field room condition (4m x 6m x 2m). Ul*****APTM demonstrated the highest capture rate (%), leading us to further study the role of its attractant. Notably, the capture rate increased by 28.9% when the CO2 attractant was used, displaying statistical differences (P = 0.032). For practical application in the field, consumer acceptance and satisfaction were monitored using 20 participants. The potential of insect traps as viable alternatives to biocidal products is discussed.

Due to the growing concern on the adverse effects on human and environment, more attention in the non-chemical pest control methods is gaining. One of the so-called ‘sustainable’ control practice is to physically freeze the insect and arthropod pests. Aerosol formulation uses propellant gas which is liquefied by pressure, and it lowers the temperature when sprayed by the volume expansion. Using this phenomenon, several ‘freeze spray’ products in South Korea and Japan are commercialized. Nonetheless, unlike other traditional aerosol insecticides, the lack of insecticidal substances in these freeze products allowed them to circumvent legal inspection and registration, no efficacy test result is required in commercialization. In the present study, we examined the insecticidal activity of the freeze spray products against German cockroaches and the housefly in the laboratory condition as well as semi-field tests. The temperature of discharged center mass was –40-45℃, but it had relatively small active range (about 3 cm) which required pinpoint application of the product. Moreover, at least 30 sec and 12 sec of direct contact at 30 cm was required to exhibit >90% of mortality in the cockroaches and houseflies in the lab-based tests, respectively. Semi-field tests indicated an average of 15.8 g and 22.0 g were required to spray to knock down the freely-moving cockroaches and houseflies, respectively. Further utility of the freezing products is discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate the habituation phenomenon of essential oils as potential feeding deterrents in agricultural practices and their associations with taste receptors. Non-choice tests and contact-fumigation bioassays were conducted to determine the feeding deterrency and insecticidal activity of 30 commercial oils on the third instar larvae of the tobacco cutworm. The results indicated that lemongrass, fennel sweet, and clove bud oils had the highest feeding deterrency in that order, and no direct correlation between insecticidal activity and feeding deterrency was observed. To validate the habituation phenomenon, larvae were exposed to the three abovementioned oils at a 1 mg/g for 48 h, then a choice assay was conducted. It showed a significant reduction in both feeding deterrence and repellency in all cases. Similar reductions in feeding deterrence were observed when individuals exposed to the main components of the three oils: citral&limonene, anethole, and eugenol. Additionally, the oil mixture of fennel sweet and clove bud exhibited the most significant synergistic effect on feeding deterrency, suggesting a relatively slower habituation process. This reduction in feeding deterrence is presumed to be due to desensitization of the larval taste sensory organs, including the maxillary palp, lateral styloconica, and medial styloconica. Further research will be conducted to investigate the specific mechanisms and spike activity associated with these sensory organs using electrophysiological study.

Due to the concerns over their environmental and health impacts, there have been attempts for shift towards biorational pesticides from synthetic pesticides. Among them, plant essential oils have emerged as promising active ingredients. Due to the complex interactions among their constituents, the bioactivities of essential oils can vary depending on the compositions, which often undermine their stability in efficacy. Here, we present a model-based optimization approach to develop reliable rosemary oil-based biorational pesticide, against two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch. The ecotoxicity against Daphnia magna and foliar phytotoxicity against Phaseolus vulgaris were also evaluated. Our quadratic models accurately predicted miticidal activity, ecotoxicity, and phytotoxicity. We aimed to maximize, minimize, and minimize these parameters, respectively. We employed seven multi-objective evolutionary algorithms in Matlab. Among them, the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II with adaptive rotation based simulated binary crossover (NSGA-II-ARSBX) performed best. We experimentally determined the thresholds for miticidal activity and phytotoxicity, based on the current approval process for agricultural pesticide products in Korea. After applying the thresholds, we validated the obtained viable solutions. Our study offers a novel framework to enhance the reliable and responsible use of essential oils as biorational pesticides.