Mosquito larvicidal properties of essential oil of an indigenous plant, Ipomoea cairica Linn

Abstract

Laboratory bioassay of the essential oil extracted from an indigenous plant, Ipomoea cairica, commonly known as 'Railway creeper', was carried out against the larvae of four vector species of mosquitoes in order to evaluate its mosquito larvicidal effect. Bioassay test revealed that the essential oil of the plant possess remarkable larvicidal properties as it could induce 100% mortality in the larvae of Culex tritaeniorhynchus (100 ppm), Aedes aegypti (120 ppm), Anopheles stephensi (120 ppm), and Culex quinquqfasciatus (170 ppm) mosquitoes at concentrations ranging from 100 to 170 ppm. The LC50, and LC90, values estimated for Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Ae. aegypti, An. stephensi, and Cx. quinquefiasciatus were 14.8 and 78.3, 22.3 and 92.7, 14.9 and 109.9, and 58.9 and 161.6 ppm, respectively. The essential oil was found to be most highly toxic to the larvae of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus followed by Ae. aegypti, An. stephensi, and Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.