Attraction or Repelling Effects of Commercial Plant Essential Oils on the Synanthropic Cheiracanthium mildei (Araneae: Cheiracanthiidae).

Abstract

The northern yellow sac spider Cheiracanthium mildei L. Koch, is expanding its range to Central Europe, especially to synanthropic habitats. The spiders become unwanted companions because of the unreasonable fear - arachnophobia, and estetic reason - silk retreats in corners, capturing dust. The most commonly used substances against spiders are pesticides, which are, however, toxic. In our work we tested the attraction or repellence of 15 essential oils (EO) from plants representing eight families to C. mildei. Our research has shown a significant repellent effect of EO from three plants, namely Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. et L. M. Perry (Myrtales: Myrtaceae), Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. (Poales: Bromeliaceae) and Musa sp. (L.) (Zingiberales: Musaceae). In contrast, some EOs appeared to have an attraction effect, particularly Carum carvi L. (Apiales: Apiaceae). Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberales: Zingiberaceae) reduced the tendency of spiders to construct the silken retreat. S. aromaticum, A. sativus, Musa sp. and Z. officinale have the potential to be used as natural repellents against spiders.

• Authors: Nela Gloríková, Jiří Skuhrovec, Pavel Nový, Pavel Klouček, Milan Řezáč
• Journal: Journal of economic entomology (J Econ Entomol) Vol. 115 Issue 5 Pg. 1472-1479 (10 12 2022) ISSN: 1938-291X [Electronic] England
• PMID: 35674716 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Chemical References

• Dust
• Insect Repellents
• Oils, Volatile
• Plant Oils
• Silk

Topics

• Animals
• Dust
• Insect Repellents (pharmacology)
• Musa
• Oils, Volatile (pharmacology)
• Phobic Disorders
• Plant Oils (pharmacology)
• Plants
• Silk
• Spiders