Effect of leaf essential oil of Coccinia indica on egg hatchability and different larval instars of malarial mosquito Anopheles stephensi

ObjectiveTo assess the larvicidal and egg hatching inhibition property of the leaf essential oil of Coccinia indica (C. indica) against Anopheles stephensi (An. stephensi).MethodsThe larvicidal potential of C. indica leaf essential oil was evaluated against 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th instars larvae of An. stephensi using WHO protocol. The 24h LC50 and LC90 values of the essential oil were determined following probit analysis. The egg hatching inhibition activity was also tested at 10, 20, 40, and 60 mg/L. The IC50 value of essential oil was determined against eggs of An. stephensi.ResultsThe essential oil extracted from C. indica possessed excellent larvicidal and egg hatching inhibition activity against An. stephensi. The bioassays showed LC50-LC90 of 54.3-140.3, 65.5-155.6, 86.8-180.7 and 95.3-192.6 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th larval instars, respectively. The 50% egg hatching inhibition concentration (IC50) was noted at 16.5 mg/L.ConclusionsThe present finding suggest that the C. indica leaf essential oil provided an excellent potential for controlling An. stephensi mosquito at earlier stage of their life cycle.