Mosquito larvicidal efficay of Acorus calamus extracts against Aedes aegypti L . larvae

Mosquitoes belong to the family Culicidae within the order Diptera[1]. There are approximately 3 400 species and 42 genera in the world[2]. It transmits a number of diseases, such as malaria, filariasis, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever etc., causing millions of deaths every year[3]. Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) is a vector of dengue and yellow fever while these diseases are widely distributed and continue to be a major public health problem in most tropical and sub tropical areas. Today, about two fifth of the world’s population is at risk for dengue, with cases reported in more than 100 countries. In 2007 alone, there were more than 890 000 reported cases of dengue in the Americas, of which 26 000 cases were of dengue hemorrhagic fever[4,5]. An estimated 200 000 persons suffered from yellow fever world-wide each year and the disease causes an estimated 30 000 deaths[6]. However, control of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases is becoming increasingly difficult because the effectiveness of vector control has declined due to the development of resistance in mosquitoes against currently used insecticides[7,8]. Therefore, an effort is made to find alternative insecticides. This has necessitated the continued effort for the search and development of environmentally safe, biodegradable and low cost larvicides PEER REVIEW ABSTRACT