Óleos essenciais de plantas medicinais e aromáticas no controle do carrapato rhipicephalus microplus

The Riphicephalus microplus cattle tick (Acari: Ixodidae) is one of the major problems faced by farmers in various parts of the world. In Brazil this ectoparasite causes great damage to cattle due to the process of blood feeding and the transmission of pathogens in animal hosts. Given this situation, the producers usually apply organic synthetic acaricides indiscriminately. This method usually results in: poisoning of animals and applicators, acaricide residues in products of animal origin, resistance of ticks to chemical acaricides and environmental pollution. An alternative to reduce these problems is to use products of botanical origin. The botanical pesticides are natural products derived from secondary metabolism of plants. This metabolism produces a wide variety of compounds with anti-ticks action that can be exploited through the use of essential oils or as a model for synthesis of pesticides. The need for methods more secure and less aggressive to humans and the environment, has stimulated the search for new products from plants. Thus, it is believed that the use of essential oils from medicinal and aromatic plants alone or in combination, can reduce: the speed of development resistance of ticks to acaricides, presence of residues in products of animal origin, and toxicity to animals, applicators and the environment.