Tribolium castaneum Herbst (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is an insect popularly known as the red flour beetle, it is widely distributed worldwide and can cause serious damage to stored grains. Chemical control is the most used method for managing this pest, however, some substances are toxic to mammals and the environment. Therefore, the development of new effective and safe insecticides is necessary. Essential oils (EOs) can be considered as a potential alternative in the development of pesticides due to their physicochemical properties and varied effects against insects. In the current study, was determined the fumigant toxicity and biochemical effects of selected essential oils against T. castaneum. The 23 selected EOs were characterized by GC–MS and their fumigant lethal concentrations were determined. An exploratory Cluster analysis was performed to find a relationship between fumigant toxicity and chemical composition. Finally, the inhibition of the catalytic activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) was evaluated using protein homogenates obtained from T. castaneum. The results indicated that EOs with the highest fumigant potential were those with greater diversity in their composition, while the least active EOs presented mainly monoterpenes. The most active EOs were those obtained from Foeniculum vulgare and Zanthoxylum monophyllum with LC₅₀ values of 16.23 and 18.54 μL/L air respectively. Regarding the inhibition of the enzymatic activity of the 23 EOs evaluated at 500 μL/L, only two caused an inhibition greater that 50% on AChE, which corresponded to EOs from Piper nigrum and Rosmarinus officinalis. Likewise, EOs from C. sinensis, Piper aduncum and Zanthoxylum monophyllum were the only ones able to inhibiting GST activity by more than 50%. Respecting CAT inhibition, 7 EOs caused and inhibition greater than 50%, highlighting those from Lavandula angustifolia, C. sempervirens and Eucalyptus sp. These results show that the EOs evaluated in this study seems to be a promising bio-controller of T. castaneum since have high fumigant toxicity and exert different mechanisms of action.

Tribolium castaneum Herbst（鞘翅目：Tenebrionidae）是一种俗称红粉甲虫的昆虫，它在世界范围内广泛分布，可对储存的谷物造成严重损害。化学防治是管理这种害虫最常用的方法，但是，有些物质对哺乳动物和环境有毒。因此，开发新的有效、安全的杀虫剂十分必要。由于精油 (EO) 的理化特性和对昆虫的多种作用，精油 (EO) 可被视为农药开发的潜在替代品。在目前的研究中，确定了选定的精油对T. castaneum的熏蒸毒性和生化作用. 23 种选定的 EO 用 GC-MS 进行了表征，并确定了它们的熏蒸致死浓度。进行了探索性聚类分析以发现熏蒸剂毒性和化学成分之间的关​​系。最后，使用从T. castaneum获得的蛋白质匀浆评估对乙酰胆碱酯酶 (AChE)、谷胱甘肽 S-转移酶 (GST) 和过氧化氢酶 (CAT) 的催化活性的抑制。结果表明，具有最高熏蒸潜力的 EOs 是那些成分具有更大多样性的 EOs，而活性最低的 EOs 主要是单萜。最活跃的 EO 是从Foeniculum vulgare和Zanthoxylum monophyllum 中获得的那些，LC ₅₀值分别为 16.23 和 18.54 μL/L 空气。关于在 500 μL/L 评估的 23 种 EO 的酶活性的抑制，只有两种对 AChE 产生了超过 50% 的抑制，这对应于来自黑胡椒和迷迭香的 EO。同样，来自C. sinensis、Piper aduncum和Zanthoxylum monophyllum 的EO是唯一能够抑制 GST 活性超过 50% 的EO。关于 CAT 抑制，7 种 EO 引起且抑制大于 50%，突出来自Lavandula angustifolia、C. sempervirens和Eucalyptussp. 这些结果表明，本研究中评估的 EO 似乎是一种很有前途的T. castaneum生物控制剂，因为它具有较高的熏蒸毒性并发挥不同的作用机制。