Discovery of a novel acaricidal source: Efficacy assessment of Ferula bungeana for mite management in laboratory and field trials.

In terms of sustainable management of mites, botanical acaricides offer advantages over synthetic acaricides. To discover new materials or compounds for developing new botanical acaricides, the acaricidal effect of Ferula bungeana was systematically evaluated in this study. The petroleum ether and ethanol extracts of F. bungeana had high acaricidal activity. Four active compounds were isolated from the high-activity petroleum ether fraction, among which myristicin and mogoltacin exhibited the strongest contact toxicity against Tetranychina harti (LC50 values of 2.79 and 4.61 mg·mL⁻¹, respectively). F. bungeana essential oil (FBEO), consisting of 94 constituents, also showed high contact and fumigation toxicity to both Tetranychus cinnabrinus and T. harti. Among 22 compounds tested, δ-Cadinene and cis-9-hexadecenal exhibited higher contact activity to T. cinnabrinus. A soluble liquid (SL) was successfully prepared and composed of 15% FBEO (containing 0.65% cis-9-hexadecenal), 7.5% pesticide emulsifier 601, 7.5% OEO-10 (polyethylene glycol monooleate), 27.5% ethyl acetate, 27.5% ethyl alcohol, and 15% deionized water. This SL not only displayed considerable toxicity to T. cinnabrinus in the laboratory but also effectively controlled the populations of T. cinnabrinus in field experiments. Myristicin and mogoltacin can serve as lead skeletons for the future design of highly effective acaricidal molecules. δ-Cadinene and cis-9-hexadecenal could be new active ingredients in eco-friendly acaricides. This SL holds promise for development into a botanical pesticide product for effective control of mites. These findings provide a basis for development of environmentally safe acaricides.