Abstract
The risk of using synthetic insecticides to the environment, human health, and the emergence of new genera of pests resistant to that kind of drugs, have led to attention in natural compounds. The present study aimed at evaluating the insecticidal activity of 0.25-6 mg/cm
of basil (
), black seeds (
), and lavender (
) essential oils (EOs) against one of the major stored product pests,
(L.). This was done by assessing mortality and repellent percentage assay in the adult stage, as well as analysing up and down-regulated genes associated with toxicity effect of selected EOs. The three studied EOs showed a toxic effect on
; where
and
EOs explicated 100% mortality at 6 mg/cm
after 48 and 24 h, respectively. The highest repellence activity was recorded for O.
EO at 0.75 mg/cm
with value 82.3% after exposure time 5 h. In the highest dose (6 mg/cm
), the maximum up-regulated expression level of detoxification DEGs genes (CL1294 and CL 8) and cytochrome p45o gene (CYP4Q4) in
EOs exhibited 8.32, 6.08, and 3.75 fold changes, respectively, as compared with 4.76 fold at 10 ppm malathion and 1.02 fold change in acetone control.