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Essential oils of Capressus funebris, Juniperus communis and J.chinensis (Curessaceae)

as repellents against ticks and mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and as toxicants against
mosquitoes.

Rocio Tello
Salt lake Community College

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Essential oils of Cupressus funebris,Juniperus communis, and J. chinensis(Cupressaceae)

as repellents against ticks( Acari: Ixodidae) and mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and as

toxicants against mosquitoes

Introduction:

In the past years mosquitos and ticks have been causing illness to the population.

Lyme disease (a tick borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrella burgorferi) (Center

for disease comfort and prevention) The Amblyomma americanum also known as a tick,

causes monocyte ehrlichiosis (is a rare infections disease, it is caused by different strains

of bacteria Ehrlichia)(McGraw hill).

A tiny creature that causes several serious diseases, like malaria, dengue fever,

and yellow fever are mosquitoes. By studying the nature of repellents, with helps with

lowering the diseases acquired by humans.

Repellents are toxicants that can diminish the exposure to such insects. A

Permethrin, a repellent that is only applied on clothing. They are mainly used for

arthropods in the agricultural and public health pests. (Hoel et. 2010) Unfortunately

frequent usage leads to resistance.

Plant essential oils are used as a natural repellent. A medicinal and aromatic plant

mainly originates from China Commercial cedar wood oil is studied to determine the

chemical composition of the essential oils. Another purpose was to examine the oils

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against ticks and the yellow fever mosquito. The main purpose was to analyze the made

up material of C. funebris,J chinensis. An additional purpose was to see the way that ticks

interact with the repellents and larval toxins.

Studies at Panella specify that Cupressaceae could be a rich source of anti-tick. The first

purpose was to see how the chemical was characterized by using gas chromatography.

The second purpose sees how the repellents interact against ticks. (Carroll, 2011)

Materials and Methods:

Ticks Fed larvae, a L. Scapularis and A American nymphs were tested three to

five months on rats. Mosquitoes, pupae Ac. Acgypti were kept in five to nine days for

repellent testing. Essential oils, Juniperus communis used as a repellent

Vertical filter paper, a paper was used to test the nymphs to repellent treatments. By

observing the way they acted they were judged the repellent. If ticks were in the lower

zone at 15 minute they were considered repelled. Tick experimental design was used

everyday to test the oil with at least 10 ticks. Selections of female mosquitos were used to

test a volunteers hand with a glove on. The experiment ran for 1 min, within that time

fewer than four times were recorded.

Results:

Essential oil composition Forty-seven, 45 and 55 compounds were identified from

J.communis, J,chinensis and C. Funebris essential oils.

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Tick repellency, the most effected scapularis nymph along with mosquito repellency and

mosquito toxicity. The mosquito repellency frequently kept from the biting through the

cloth.

Discussion:

It would have been helpful to analyze other types of repellents like, shampoo or

perfume. The oils tested varied too much. By being able to study other components

would have been helpful. The climate of the site that was tested could have been a factor.

The absorbency of the repellent could have been affected. By being able to stop the bites,

we could avoid diseases to be spread and change in lifestyle.

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References

1. Carrol, John F. Tabanca, Nurhayat, Kramer, Mathew (2011) Journal Vector

Ecology . Essential oils of Cupressus funebris,Juniperus communis, and J.

chinensis:pg 258-268.2011.
2. Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine, 13th Ed.: Kurt J. Isselbacher, M.D. et

al., Editors; McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994. P. 756.