LAUSR

Six plant crude extracts were chosen to evaluate their acaricidal activity against Tetranychus cinnabarinus adults. The crude extract from the stems and leaves of Arachis hypogaea L. presented the highest activity in leaf‐dip bioassays, with an LC50 value of 3,545.98 mg/L. Further extraction using four different solvents (petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n‐butyl alcohol and distilled water) demonstrated that the active components mainly existed in the petroleum ether phase. Then, the active compound, palmitic acid, was isolated from the petroleum ether phase via two‐step column chromatography using columns filled with silica gel and C‐18 and identified via mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. The LC50 value of active palmitic acid against T. cinnabarinus was 534.58 mg/L. The present study demonstrated that the active compound extracted from A. hypogaea is a potential novel botanical acaricide for controlling T. cinnabarinus.