Marsh rosemary (Ledum palustre, Ericaceae) has been widely used in the traditional medicine of various regions worldwide, and as insect repellent. Little is known on its essential oil insecticidal potential. This study explored the insecticidal effects of the essential oil obtained from L. palustre growing in Poland on selected insect pests and vectors. GC-MS analysis evidenced an uncommon chemotype characterized by ascaridole (35.3% as sum of cis-ascaridole and isoascaridole) and p-cymene (25.5%). The essential oil was effective against Culex quinquefasciatus, Spodoptera littoralis and Musca domestica, showing LC50/LD50 of 66.6 mg L-1, 117.2 μg larva-1 and 61.4 μg adult-1, respectively. It was not toxic to non-target Eisenia fetida earthworms and moderately toxic to Daphnia magna microcrustaceans, over the positive control α-cypermethrin. The essential oil cytotoxicity on human keratinocytes and fibroblasts showed high IC50 values (71.3 and 84.4 μg mL-1, respectively). Comet assay data highlighted no DNA damages. Based on our findings, this essential oil, characterized by the ascaridole/p-cymene chemotype, could be a candidate for the formulation of botanical insecticides; large-scale production of green insecticides by this rare species may be assured by ex situ cultivation and biotechnological techniques.

Crop Research Institute Drnovska 507 161 06 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Agriculture Food and Environment University of Pisa via del Borghetto 80 56124 Pisa Italy

Department of Animal Ethology and Wildlife Management University of Life Sciences in Lublin Akademicka 13 Street 20 950 Lublin Poland

Department of Hydrobiology and Protection of Ecosystems University of Life Sciences in Lublin Dobrzańskiego 37 20 262 Lublin Poland

EA 2219 Géoarchitecture UFR Sciences and Techniques Université de Bretagne Occidentale 6 Avenue Victor Le Gorgeu F 29200 Brest France; School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine University of Camerino via Pontoni 5 62032 Camerino Italy

Institute of Soil Science and Environment Shaping Department of Natural Foundations of Forestry University of Life Sciences in Lublin Leszczyńskiego 7 20 069 Lublin Poland

School of Pharmacy University of Camerino via Sant'Agostino 1 62032 Camerino Italy

School of Sciences and Technology University of Camerino via Sant'Agostino 1 62032 Camerino Italy

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