Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #282576
Title: Biolarvicidal and pupicidal activity of Acalypha alnifolia Klein ex Willd.(Family:Euphorbiaceae) leaf extract and microbial insecticide, Metarhizium anisopliae(Metsch.)against malaria fever mosquito Anopheles stephensi Liston

Author
item MURUGAN, K - Bharathiar University
item KOVENDAN, K - Bharathiar University
item VINCENT, S - Loyola College
item Barnard, Donald

Submitted to: Parasitology Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2011
Publication Date: 1/31/2012
Citation: Murugan, K., Kovendan, K., Vincent, S., Barnard, D.R. 2012. Biolarvicidal and pupicidal activity of Acalypha alnifolia Klein ex Willd.(Family:Euphorbiaceae) leaf extract and microbial insecticide, Metarhizium anisopliae(Metsch.)against malaria fever mosquito Anopheles stephensi Liston. Parasitology Research. 110:263-270.

Interpretive Summary: In the tropics, mosquito-borne disease (malaria, yellow fever, dengue) threatens the health of more than 2 billion people. In India and other western Asian countries, the primary vector of malaria is Anopheles stephensi. New and improved methods for control of An. stephensi are needed in these areas to replace synthetic chemical insecticides. This study was made by Indian and ARS scientists to determine the usefulness of Acalypa alnifolia leaf extract and the fungus Metarizhium anisopliae for control of larvae and pupae of A.stephensi. Treatment with 1.8% A. alnifolia leaf extract and 1×1010 M. anispoliae conidia/ml killed 98% of mosquito larvae within 24 h. The results showed that the combined use of botanical and microbial insecticides is a potentially useful mosquito control strategy.

Technical Abstract: This study was made to determine the biological activity of Acalypha alnifolia leaf extract and the microbial insecticide Metarizhium anisopliae against larvae and pupae of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Ethanolic A. alnifolia leaf extract tested against 1st through 4th instars and pupae of An. stepehensi indicated LC50 values of 5.4%, 6.2%, 6.9%, 8.6%, and 10.1%, respectively. When A. alnifolia leaf extract was combined with M. anisopliae, LC50 values for 1st through 4th instars and pupae were 3.6%, 4.4%, 5.6%, 7.2%, and 8.5%., respectively. These results showed that A. alnifolia leaf extract and M. anisopliae can be used to control A. stephensi and that the combination of botanical and biorational insecticides is a potentially useful approach for the control of A. stephensi in vector control programs. This is the first report of mosquitocidal activity for A alnifolia extract and M. anisopliae against A. stephensi in Southern India.