Repellency potential of lemongrass (cymbopogon citratus) and peppermint (mentha piperita) against house fly, musca domestica

House fly is a major concern regarding to health. It is a pest and a vector that can carry different types of harmful pathogens which might infect human and cause diseases. House fly is responsible for carrying diarrheal diseases caused by Staphylococcus and Bacillus species. House fly feed on from waste and feces where they get the harmful pathogens on their feet and mouth parts. There are multiple ways of controlling house flies and one of them is by biological control. There are several natural plants that are proven to repel house flies such as lemongrass and peppermint. Lemongrass is a plant native to Southeast Asia and India. It contains citral, geraniol, and limonene which are a few of its essential oils. Peppermint is a plant indigenous to Europe. It contains menthol which is one of the monoterpenes which is proven to have strong repellency against house fly. Essential oils of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) and peppermint (Mentha piperita) were evaluated for repellency potential against house fly, Musca domestica in a designed chamber. The results showed that Mentha piperita has a higher repellency percentage against house fly compared to Cymbopogon citratus. At 100% concentration of pure essential oil, Mentha piperita repelled 97.3% of the house flies while Cymbopogon citratus repelled 95.3%. The RC50 for lemongrass essential oil is at 1.00 log (C%) and the RC50 for peppermint essential oil is at 0.978 log (C%).