Toxicity and mosquito larvicidal activities of the essential oils from the leaves of Acalypha ornata and Acalypha ciliata in Southwest Nigeria

摘要

Larvicides are products that kill mosquito larvae. Targeting larvae is more desirable than controlling adults because the larvae are concentrated in a relatively small area; whatever microbial insecticide adopted needs to be consumed by mosquito larva and must be applied well before the last larval instar stage.Plants have been much more successfully exploited as sources of insecticides, insect repellent and insect antifeedants. Plants also contain virtually untapped reservoir of pesticides that can be used directly or as templates for synthetic pesticides. Numerous factors have increased the interest of the insecticide industry and the insecticide market in this source of natural products as insecticides. These include extinction with traditional insecticides discovery methods; increased environmental and toxicology concerns with synthetic insecticide; also the high level of reliance on modern insecticides.