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.

蚜虫是重要的吮吸昆虫，会侵袭多种农作物并造成巨大的经济损失。由于香精油对环境和人类健康的影响小，因此已被提议作为合成杀虫剂的合适替代品。在这项工作中，通过气相色谱/质谱法（GC-MS）测定了从埃及生长的植物中提取的八种精油的化学成分。通过浸叶试验检查了分离出的油对夹竹桃蚜，成年蚜的成虫的杀蚜活性。体外还测试了香精油对乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）活性的抑制作用。。化学分析表明，精油主要由单萜碳氢化合物，含氧单萜，倍半萜碳氢化合物和含氧倍半萜组成，但蒿精油中苯的含量较高。毒性测定的结果表明，该油A. monosperma和柑橘吸虫是最有力的毒物显示LC ₅₀为0.06mg / L的值。Callistemon viminals，Schinus terebinthifolius和Schinus molle的油还具有很高的抗蚜虫LC _{50的能力。}值低于1 mg / L。此外，0.5 mg / L中华绒螯蟹对AChE的抑制作用最高，抑制率为49.33％，而0.1 mg / L柑橘柠檬油的抑制作用最低，抑制率为0.4％。一般而言，经过测试的六种精油对ner。nerii具有很高的毒性，因此可以在IPM程序中用于该昆虫。