bio-pesticides: new tool for the control of aedes (stegomyia) albopictus (culicidae: diptera) in pakistan

background: application of plant extracts as mosquito control strategy was practiced from centuries. these are easily available, non-toxic, biodegradable and exhibit broad-spectrum target specific activities against larval stages of mosquitoes. method: different potential parts of locally grown plants, seeds of nutmeg ( myristica fragrans ), peel of musambi ( citrus sinensis ), leaves of babuna ( matricaria chamomilla ) , mint ( mentha spicata ) and ginger rhizome ( zingiber officinale ) selected and evaluated for their larvicidal properties against aedes ( stegomyis ) albopictus . oils were ex­tracted through steam distillation process and extracts were evaluated as per who 2005 guidelines for testing of insecticides against larvae of mosquitoes. result: among the five plant extracts, c. sinensis had the lowest lc 50 (400.81ppm) while m. fragrans had the high­est lc 50 value (710.30ppm) respectively after 24h of exposure. in terms of % age mortality, a series of con­centra­tions (300–800ppm) gave high % mortality in case of c. sinensis while m. fragrans gave low % age mortality. conclusion: all the five plant species have larvicidal effects to certain extant and c. sinensis had great potential. further small-scale field trials with the extracts of the most promising one ( c. sinensis ) shall be conducted to deter­mine operational feasibility.