Jared Owiti Yugi , Joyce J. Kiplimo , Christopher O. Misire

School of Sciences and Technology, University of Kabianga, P. O. Box 2030-20200, Kericho-Kenya
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2017, Vol. 7, No. 13   doi: 10.5376/jmr.2017.07.0013
Received: 19 Jun., 2017    Accepted: 18 Jul., 2017    Published: 28 Jul., 2017

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.

Yugi J.O., Kiplimo J.J., and Misire C., 2017, Pupicidal activity of ethanol and water extracts of Phytolacca dodecandra (L’ Herit) on Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) pupae, 7(13): 104-110 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2017.07.0013)

Pupae are an integral part of Anopheles gambiae life history and a tool that effectively targets them is likely to impact on malaria vector density. In this study we evaluated pupicidal activities of crude ethanol and water extracts of Phytolacca dodecandra (L’ Herit) on An. gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory condition. Individual early pupae of An. gambiae mosquitoes were exposed to concentrations of 40, 20, 10, 5, 2.5 mgs/100 ml of mature green fruits and leaves of the shoot and midsection of P. dodecandra in containers measuring 6 cm top × 5.7 cm bottom × 3.5 cm height. P. dodecandra was sourced from Eldoret (highland) and Nyando (lowland). Extraction of P. dodecandra bioactives was done using 80% ethanol and distilled water. Extracts of Neem leaves and untreated rain water were used as positive and negative controls respectively. WHO, 2005 mortality threshold of >80% was used to determine the effectiveness of the extracts as pupicide 24 hours post exposure. Mortality of exposed pupae was dose dependent. Concentrations of 20 mgs/100 mls and higher and 40 mgs/ 100mls of mature green fruits from Nyando and Eldoret met the mortality threshold respectively. Extracts of P. dodecandra from Nyando was more potent than that from Eldoret as was water compared to ethanol extracts. Positive (Neem) control killed < 80% of exposed pupae. It was concluded that crude extracts of P. dodecandra are potent as pupicide against An. gambiae mosquitoes and is a likely alternative to synthetic insecticides against An. gambiae in future.

Anopheles gambiae; Ethanol; Phytolacca dodecandra; Pupicide; Water