Jibon Kumar Pal¹ , Aniket Singh¹ , Anjali Rawani^{1, 2} , Goutam Chandra¹

1 Mosquito, Microbiology and Nanotechnology Research units, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India
2 Department of Zoology, Gourbanga University, Malda, West Bengal, India
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2016, Vol. 6, No. 35   doi: 10.5376/jmr.2016.06.0035
Received: 18 Sep., 2016    Accepted: 07 Nov., 2016    Published: 09 Dec., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Pal J.K., Singh A., Rawani A., and Chandra G., 2016, Larvicidal activity of Tinospora crispa (Menispermaceae) fruit extract against filarial vector Culex quinquefasciatus, Journal of Mosquito Research, 6(35): 1-8 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2016.06.0035)

Control of filarial vector; Culex quinquefasciatus larvae using target specific, non-resistant and eco-friendly phytochemicals are an alternative way to prevent the spread of this vector-borne disease. This study was carried out to assess the mosquito larvicidal potency of Tinospora crispa fruit extract against Cx. quinquefasciatus. Crude and petroleum ether extracts were examined against all larval instars. LC₅₀ & LC₉₀ values were determined through log-probit analysis. The lowest value was obtained at 72 hours of exposure in both crude and petroleum ether extracts. Regression and ANOVA analysis were also done for statistical judgement. A preliminary phytochemical analysis of the crude extract of fruits was also done to know the possible active ingredients which are believed to be responsible for larval toxicity. The analyses revealed the presence of tannin and steroid. No abnormality was seen in the motion and behaviour of non- target organisms when they were exposed to LC₅₀ values of crude and solvent extracts. In conclusion, T. crispa fruit extract has the potency to fight effectively against Cx. quinquefasciatus larvae.

Culex quinquefasciatus; Tinospora crispa; Larvicidal; Phytochemicals; Non-target