Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: January | Volume: 3 | Issue: 1 | Pages:65-72
Larvicidal Activity of Five Different Plant Extracts against Aedes Aegypti (Linn.)
Medona Mary R, Nirmala T
Research Centre and Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Jayaraj Annapackiam College for Women, Periyakulam.
Corresponding Author: Medona Mary RABSTRACT
Mosquitoes act as the major vectors for many human diseases. More recently the incidence of chikungunya is increasing steadily in different parts of Tamil Nadu has also been reported on a regular basis. Due to the insecticidal contamination of the environment and to the physiological and behavioral resistance of vectors, increasing attention is now being focused on biological control methods. Crude plant extracts are more cost effective in community based control programs and may be employed in localized situations where mosquitoes have become tolerant to synthetic or microbial larvicides.
Five different plant extracts were Allium sativum (Garlic bulb extract), pongamia pinnata (pongam oil extract) Madhuca indica (Illuppai oil extract), Azadirachta Indica (Neem oil extract), Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi Leaf extract) were selected and tested against early fourth instars larvae of Ae.aegypti and probit analysis was made to calculate the Lc50 and Lc90 values. The larvae of Ae. aegypti treated with five different plant extracts and the toxicity (Lc50 and Lc90) of the larvae showed a remarkable variations. The five different plant extracts showed an effective larvicidal activity against Ae.aegypti. Among the five plant extracts tested, Allium sativum was more effective than the other plant extracts. Ocimum sanctum has least larvicidal effect when compared with the four plant extracts.
Therefore judicious application of the above plant extracts in the breeding medium will reduce the population of Aedes aegypti in an ecofriendly manner and in turn it reduces the incidence of chikungunya and various dreadful diseases in an ecofriendly manner.
Key words: Mosquito larva, plant extracts, larvicidal activity, Ecofriendly tool.