Chemical composition, aphicidal and antiacetylcholinesterase activities of essential oils against Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

[Display omitted] •Chemical analyses showed the essential oils consisted mainly of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.•The insecticidal activity of eight essential oils was tested for the first time against Aphis nerii adults.•The tested essential oils exhibited outstanding aphicidal activity.•Some of the tested oils induced significant inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Aphids are important sucking insects that attack many crops and cause huge economic loss. Essential oils have been proposed to be appropriate alternative to synthetic insecticides due to their low impact on environment and human health. In this work, the chemical compositions of eight essential oils extracted from plants growing in Egypt were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The aphicidal activities of the isolated oils were examined against the adults of oleander aphid, Aphis nerii by a leaf-dipping assay. The inhibitory effect of essential oils on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was also tested in vitro. Chemical analyses showed the essential oils consisted mainly of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated sesquiterpenes except the oil of Artemisia monosperma which contained high content of benzenes. The results of toxicity assay showed that the oils of A. monosperma and Citrus sinensis were the most potent toxicants displaying LC50 value of 0.06 mg/L. The oils of Callistemon viminals, Schinus terebinthifolius and Schinus molle were also highly effective against aphid as their LC50 values were lower than 1 mg/L. In addition, the highest inhibitory effect on AChE was recorded by 0.5 mg/L C. sinensis with inhibition of 49.33%, while 0.1 mg/L Citrus lemon oil recorded the lowest inhibitory effect with inhibition of 0.4%. In general, six of tested essential oils showed high toxicity against A. nerii and they might be applied in the IPM programs for this insect.