| Summary: | Using essential oils to control vectors, intermediate hosts, and disease-causing microorganisms is a promising approach. The genus <i>Croton</i> in the family Euphorbiaceae is a large genus, with many species containing large amounts of essential oils, however, essential oil studies are limited in terms of the number of <i>Croton</i> species investigated. In this work, the aerial parts of <i>C. hirtus</i> growing wild in Vietnam were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of 141 compounds were identified in <i>C. hirtus</i> essential oil, in which sesquiterpenoids dominated, comprising 95.4%, including the main components β-caryophyllene (32.8%), germacrene D (11.6%), β-elemene (9.1%), α-humulene (8.5%), and caryophyllene oxide (5.0%). The essential oil of <i>C. hirtus</i> showed very strong biological activities against the larvae of four mosquito species with 24 h LC<sub>50</sub> values in the range of 15.38–78.27 μg/mL, against <i>Physella acuta</i> adults with a 48 h LC<sub>50</sub> value of 10.09 μg/mL, and against ATCC microorganisms with MIC values in the range of 8–16 μg/mL. In order to provide a comparison with previous works, a literature survey on the chemical composition, mosquito larvicidal, molluscicidal, antiparasitic, and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of <i>Croton</i> species was conducted. Seventy-two references (seventy articles and one book) out of a total of two hundred and forty-four references related to the chemical composition and bioactivity of essential oils of <i>Croton</i> species were used for this paper. The essential oils of some <i>Croton</i> species were characterized by their phenylpropanoid compounds. The experimental results of this research and the survey of the literature showed that <i>Croton</i> essential oils have the potential to be used to control mosquito-borne and mollusk-borne diseases, as well as microbial infections. Research on unstudied <i>Croton</i> species is needed to search for species with high essential oil contents and excellent biological activities.
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