Larvicidal effect of Cedrus libani seed oils on mosquito Culex pipiens

The aim of this research was to determine the larvicidal activity of essential oils obtained from the seeds of six different Cedrus libani A. Rich. (Pinaceae) populations on Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae). The essential oil was obtained from seeds by hydrodistillation. Third and fourth instar mortalities from six concentrations (10, 25,50,100,200, and 400 ppm) of oil from each Cedrus population were compared with those of a standard larvicide, temephos. Seed oils from Pozanti, Degirmenlik, Aslankoy, Avlankuzu, Camkuyusu, and Sogutozu populations in Turkey showed high larvicidal activities, with LC50 values of 47.8, 59.0, 66.6,105.5, 109.3, and 116.0 ppm, respectively. The data showed that there were significant differences among the oils from different C libani populations in terms of larvicidal activity. Our overall results suggest that essential oil of C libani has potential to be used in the search for chemical components as new larvicides.