Repellent activity of five essential oils against Culex pipiens F. Erler a, ⁎ , I. Ulug b , B. Yalcinkaya c a Akdeniz University, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, 07070 Antalya, Turkey b Bogazici University, Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, 34342 I . stanbul, Turkey c Koc University, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, 34450 I . stanbul, Turkey Received 11 April 2004; accepted 25 May 2006 Available online 7 July 2006 Abstract Essential oils extracted from the seeds of anise (Pimpinella anisum), dried fruits of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), dried foliage of mint (Mentha piperita) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) and fresh foliage of laurel (Laurus nobilis) were tested for their repellency against the adult females of Culex pipiens. All essential oils showed repellency in varying degrees, eucalyptus, basil and anise being the most active. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Culex pipiens; Repellent activity; Pimpinella anisum; Eucalyptus camaldulensis; Mentha piperita; Ocimum basilicum; Laurus nobilis 1. Introduction Mosquitoes serve as vectors of several diseases, like malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasis and encephalitis, causing serious health problems to humans [1]. To combat mosquitoes many municipalities have established mosquito control programs in many parts of Turkey. These programs include aerial application of chemicals. However, development of resistance, withdrawal of registered chemicals from the market and limited prospects for registration of new materials have severely reduced pest control options. It is likely that public concern over pesticide residues and threat of environmental contamination will further reduce the availability of conventional pesticides. Thus, there is an increasing need to develop and implement newer pest management programs against mosquitoes. Researchers are now focused on finding newer insecticides which will be effective, ecofriendly and biodegradable. Hereby, many plant products which have been used traditionally by human communities in many parts of the world against the vector species of insects [2], have been evaluated against mosquitoes especially in the last decade. Many researchers reported that the phytochemicals derived from plant sources might be alternative agents for the control of mosquitoes, because they have larvicidal, pupicidal, adulticidal and repellent activity [3–7]. In the present study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the repellent efficacy of essential oils extracted from 5 plant species against Culex Fitoterapia 77 (2006) 491 – 494 www.elsevier.com/locate/fitote ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 242 310 24 11; fax: +90 242 227 45 64. E-mail address: erler@akdeniz.edu.tr (F. Erler). 0367-326X/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2006.05.028