Acaricidal activity of pine essential oils and their main components against Tyrophagus putrescentiae, a stored food mite.

Some essential oils obtained from the branches of four Pinus species (P. pinea L., P. halepensis Mill., P. pinaster Soil in Ait., and P. nigra Arnold) have been evaluated for their acaricidal activity by aerial diffusion against the stored food mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (L.). All the essential oils showed a good efficacy, but P. pinea oil and its two constituents 1,8-cineole and limonene were the most effective compounds, showing 100% acaricidal activity at 8 microL; 1,8-cineole showed the same activity at 6 microL.