Essential oils of Cupressus funebris, Juniperus communis, and J.

chinensis
(Cupressaceae) as repellents against ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and mosquitoes
(Diptera: Culicidae) and as toxicants against mosquitoes
Introduction
Mosquitoes and ticks have been responsible for transmitting many fatal
diseases such as Lyme disease, malaria, yellow fever, west nile virus, and many others.
Since the 1950s one of the leading chemicals used to repel these harmful pests and
other insects has been Deet. Other more recently developed chemicals referred to as
synthetic pyrethroids have also been largely used. While these options have been
effective, they are high in cost and have been proven to be harmful to mammals and the
environment. Over the course of the past three decades, the amount of diseases
transmitted have become a growing concern and have warranted a greater necessity for
researching more ecological and cost effective alternatives. In this study, scientists
researched the possibility of using essentials oils as a natural replacement. The oils
tested were: Cupressus funebris, Juniperus communis, and J. Chinensis
(Cupressaceae). The purpose or hypothesis of this research was to identify the
chemical composition of the three oils C. funebris, J. chinensis, and J. Communis and
then to test these oils as repellents against the ticks A. americanum and I. Scapularis
and as repellents and adult and larval toxicants against the yellow fever mosquito,
Aedes aegypti (L.). (Carroll et al., 2011).
Materials and Methods
In order to determine which chemicals the oils were composed of, scientists used
an analytical method called Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Once the

compounds were identified, they tested their ability to be used as repellents against
mosquitoes and ticks. Lab bioassays were used for testing the effects of the oils on the
insects. Since ticks climb vertical surfaces, they were tested by measuring how high
they climbed the oil treated vertical filter paper during set amounts of time. The
mosquitoes were tested by volunteers inserting their arms in a mosquito infested cage
covered by several layers and treated with the different types of oils. The number and
frequency of bites and frequency were measured.
Results
One hundred and four compounds were identified in the essential oils. The main
components were: twenty seven percent -pinene, fourteen percent -terpinene, and
ten point nine linalool for J. communis. J. chinesis contained eleven point three percent
cuparene and seven point eight percent -cadinene. And for C. funebris there was
sixteen point nine percent -cedrene, seven point six percent cedrol, and five point
seven percent -cedrene. Scientists found that both types of ticks were repelled by all
three oils. The data showed that C. funebris and J. Communis oils compared to deet,
however their effectiveness did not last as long. None of the oils repelled the
mosquitoes at an acceptable level, however J. Communis had a very small repelling
effect.
Discussion
Based on the results, the scientists were able to test and prove effectiveness in
repelling ticks, however the oils tested were not very useful against mosquitoes.
Overall, out of all the tested essential oils J. Communis was the most encouraging. With
more experimentation and modification, it could have the potential to be a successful

alternative to deet and other synthetic repellents. This could hypothetically be achieved
by testing a larger variety of oils with similar compounds to J. Communis. More tests
using additional effective oils could be combined with the findings of this study to
produce a natural repellent effective against both ticks and mosquitoes.

Bibliography

Zhang, J. (2010). Essential oils of Cupressus funebris, Juniperus communis, and J.

chinensis (Cupressaceae) as repellents against ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and
mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and as toxicants against mosquitoes. Journal of
Vector Ecology, 258-268. Retrieved October 14, 2015, from
http://biology1615.weebly.com/uploads/5/5/4/8/5548644/essential_oils_as_repell
ents.pdf