the volatile metabolites of salvia sclarea, rosmarinus officinalis, thymus serpyllum, mentha spicata, melissa officinalis, origanum majorana, mentha piperita, ocimum basilicum and lavandula angustifolia were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. the vapor insecticidal properties of the analyzed essential oils and their compounds were screened using reticulitermes dabieshanensis workers. the most effective oils were s. sclarea (major constituent linalyl acetate, 65.93%), r. officinalis (1,8-cineole, 45.56%), t. serpyllum (thymol, 33.59%), m. spicata (carvone, 58.68%), m. officinalis (citronellal, 36.99%), o. majorana (1,8-cineole, 62.29%), m. piperita (menthol, 46.04%), o. basilicum (eugenol, 71.08%) and l. angustifolia (linalool, 39.58%), which exhibited lc50 values ranging from 0.036 to 1.670 l/l. the lowest lc50 values were recorded for eugenol (0.060 l/l), followed by thymol (0.062 l/l), carvone (0.074 l/l), menthol (0.242 l/l), linalool (0.250 l/l), citronellal (0.330 l/l), linalyl acetate (0.712 l/l) and 1,8-cineole (1.478 l/l). the increased activity of esterases (ests) and glutathione s-transferase (gst) were observed but only alongside the decreased activity of acetylcholinesterase (ache) in eight main components. our results indicate that s. sclarea, r. officinalis, t. serpyllum, m. spicata, m. officinalis, o. marjorana, m. piperita, o. basilicum and l. angustifolia essential oils (eos) and their compounds, linalyl acetate, 1,8-cineole, thymol, carvone, citronellal, menthol, eugenol and linalool could be developed as control agents against termites.