Abstract BACKGROUND Essential oil of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. has been reported to exhibit strong insecticidal activities, but few studies have focused on the insecticidal activity of its main individual constituent, pogostone ( PO ). The goal of this research was to investigate the insecticidal activity of PO against two harmful noctuid insects, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) and Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) . RESULTS In a no‐choice assay, PO exhibited strong antifeedant activity against S. litura and S. exigua . PO showed pronounced larvicidal activities, including oral toxicity ( LC 50 986.88 mg L −1 and 545.61 mg L −1 respectively) and contact toxicity ( LC 50 1041.42 mg L −1 and 519.48 mg L −1 respectively) against these two noctuid insects. Additionally, PO treatment significantly increased the larval and pupal developmental period. Furthermore, PO showed moderate ovicidal activities and influenced the emergence and deformity of the moth. However, PO failed to exert a potent effect on adult development. These tested parameters proved to be dose dependent for both insect species . CONCLUSION PO possesses strong insecticidal activities, especially antifeedant, larvicidal, growth inhibitory and pupicidal activities, against S. litura and S. exigua . PO may partly account for the insecticidal activity of patchouli oil and may be a promising candidate for the control of agricultural insects. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry