<p>Pests are ubiquitous, causing significant losses to agricultural and forest crops while serving as vectors for various diseases. Agricultural and stored-grain pests severely threaten agricultural production and food security, causing crop yield losses and storage damage, while sanitary pests, as vectors of diseases like malaria and dengue fever, continuously endanger public health. To seek safe, efficient, and sustainable control solutions, plant secondary metabolites have become a research hotspot in insecticide development. As one of the most species-rich groups in angiosperms, Asteraceae has attracted extensive attention due to its diverse values in medicinal, edible, ornamental, and industrial fields. This paper systematically reviews the research progress in the insecticidal activities of Asteraceae plant essential oils against agricultural pests, stored-grain pests, and sanitary pests over the past decade (2015–2025), and for the first time comprehensively summarizes their chemical components, covering hemiterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and other compounds. The future research needs to further strengthen the separation and purification of chemical components of Asteraceae plant essential oils, deeply analyze the action mechanisms of effective active ingredients, and provide new perspectives and theoretical support for promoting the applied research and drug development of Asteraceae plants.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>