Control of Aedes albopictus Mosquito Larvae with Carpesium abrotanoides L.

Summary

Using the Carpesium abrotanoides L. plant for mosquito larvae control can effectively reduce the Aedes albopictus mosquito population and provide a foundation for designing plant-derived insecticides.

Abstract

As a vital vector of dengue fever, yellow fever, and other mosquito-borne diseases, Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) can be broadly distributed worldwide and cause a severe threat to public health. To date, considering the fast-emerging insecticide resistance in the mosquito, the development of new botanical insecticides to control and reduce Ae. albopictus is urgent and crucial. Therefore, to investigate the decoction effect of the plant C. abrotanoides L. on mosquito larvae killing, we detected the mortality of larvae after treatment with different concentrations (60 mg/mL, 120 mg/mL, and 180 mg/mL) of decoction within a series of time points (12 h, 24 h, 36 h, and 48 h). We found that 24 h with 180 mg/mL C. abrotanoides L. decoction treatment killed 92.35% of mosquitoes relative to the control treatment. Meanwhile, 36 h with 120 mg/mL could also kill more than 90% of mosquitoes. Furthermore, Carassius auratus populations were exposed to 120 mg/mL C. abrotanoides L. decoction for 36 h and were not dead. The mortality evaluation indicated that this concentration is not a harmful level of ecological environmental pollution. This study provides a possible plant candidate that could be used for designing plant-derived insecticides. Additionally, these methods can be altered and applied to other mosquito species.

Introduction

Aedes albopictus, also known as "Asian tiger mosquito", can spread a variety of diseases, such as dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and Zika virus disease, by sucking human and animal blood¹. Due to the wide distribution of Ae. albopictus, the epidemic situation of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever has become increasingly serious in recent years, posing a severe threat to the life and health of people worldwide². At present, for most mosquito-borne diseases, there is no effective vaccine or specific therapeutic drug. Killing mosquitoes with chemical insecticides is still the main means of cont....

Protocol

The goat blood used to feed female mosquitoes was collected from a local abattoir in Duyun City, Guizhou, China, and used following the ethical guidelines and regulations of the Key Laboratory of Human Parasitic Diseases in Qiannan Prefecture, Duyun, Guizhou, China.

1. Preparation of reagents

NOTE: Refer to the Table of Materials for a list of equipment, reagents, and other consumables used in this protocol.

1. Extraction and identification of C. abrotanoides L.
   1. Collect the whole grass of C. abrotanoides L. Whole grass of <....

Results

Here, whole grass of C. abrotanoides L. in this study was collected from the wild (Figure 1). After the identification of C. abrotanoides L., the decoction of C. abrotanoides L. was obtained by the decoction method (Figure 2) and prepared in different concentrations (60 mg/mL, 120 mg/mL, and 180 mg/mL). It was applied to Ae. albopictus larvae by the larval dipping method. It was found that 24 h with .......

Discussion

Currently, Ae. albopictus has become one of the 100 most invasive species in the world. According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, in 2020, the areas most affected by Ae. albopictus in Asia will account for approximately 70% of the global disease burden¹². As a vital vector of dengue fever, yellow fever, and other mosquito-borne diseases, Ae. albopictus can be broadly distributed worldwide and cause a severe threat to public health. Here, the development of.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Acetone (analytical purity)	Shanghai Shenbo Chemical Co., Ltd
Crucian carp	Guangzhou Yunfeng aquaculture Co., Ltd
Chicken liver powder	self made
Dechlorinated water	self made		The tap water standing for more than 24 hours
Deltamethrin technical	Nanjing Lesheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd		Purity: 94.62%
Disposable plastic cup	Guizhou Fuqiang technology Packaging Co., Ltd	220ML-A1
Egg collecting cup	self made
Electric blast drying oven	Hangzhou Aipu Instrument Equipment Co., Ltd	WGLL-230BE
Electric water distiller	Beijing Xinrun Kono Instrument Co., Ltd	TT-98-II
GraphPad Prism	GraphPad Software		Data processing and graphics software
Integrated digital microscope	Chongqing Aote Optical Instrument Co., Ltd	SMARTe-500
Mosquito feeding cage	Nanjing Lesheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd		custom made
Multifunctional induction cooker	Guangdong Midea living appliance manufacturing Co., Ltd	C21-WK2102	custom made
Qualitative filter paper	Hangzhou Fuyang Beimu pulp and Paper Co., Ltd	15cm-102
Rotary evaporator	Henan Jingbang Instrument Equipment Co., Ltd	R-1010
Small crusher	Jinhua Mofei household appliances Co., Ltd	CHY-6001
SPSS Version 25.0	IBM		statistical software
Standard sample sieve	Hebei Hengshui Anping lvruo wire mesh products Co., Ltd	100-30	custom made
Sugar water,10%	self made