Acaricidal and ovicidal properties of Lippia alba essential oil and its chemical constituents against red spider mite, Oligonychus coffeae Nietner (Acari: Tetranychidae) infesting tea crops.

The red spider mite, Oligonychus coffeae Nietner (Acari: Tetranychidae), is a prevalent mite pest damages tea crops. The present study evaluated the efficacy of L. alba essential oil against O. coffeae. GC and GC-MS analysis of L. alba essential oil revealed geraniol (52.19%) and neral (34.13%) as major compounds. The L. alba essential oil applied at 1500 ppm exhibited 100% mortality of treated mites 48 h after exposure through fumigant toxicity method, while 99% ovicidal activity of essential oil was achieved at 1000 ppm. Similarly, in fumigant bioassay LC50 value against O. coffeae was 87.75 ppm for geraniol and 103.49 ppm for neral at 72 h after exposure. The findings suggest that L. alba essential oil and its major constituents geraniol and neral could be used as eco-friendly acaricide, and can be incorporated as one of the components in IPM after multi-location field trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]