Larvicidal and IGR activity of extract of Tanzanian plants against malaria vector mosquitoes

Background & objectives: This paper reports the larvicidal activity of seventeen Tanzanian plantspecies against the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae s.s. Giles larvae. Some of the plants are usedtraditionally as sources of insecticidal materials.Methods: The crude extracts from the leaves, stem and root barks of the investigated plants wereobtained by solvent extraction and then bio-assayed following WHO protocols showed LC50 values10 to 400 ppm after 24 h exposure. The structures were determined on interpretation of spectroscopicdata.Results: The most active extracts were those from the stem and root barks of Annona squamosa,Uvaria faulknerae, U. kirkii and Uvariodendron pycnophyllum, all of which had LC50 values between10 and 100 ppm. Long-term exposure beyond 24 h also showed more susceptibility of the larvae tothe extracts. Larvae deformities by forming tail-like structures were observed for the methanolextracts of Tessmannia martiniana var pauloi.Interpretation & conclusion: The results suggest that the investigated plant extracts are promisingas larvicides against An. gambiae s.s. Giles mosquitoes and could be useful leads in the search fornew and biodegradable plant derived larvicide products.