Abstract
Background: With the rapid expansion of insecticide resistance limiting the effectiveness of insecticide-based vector control interventions, integrated control strategies associating larviciding could be appropriate to improve current control efforts. The present experimental study assesses laboratory and field efficacy of the larvicide VectoMax®G on Anopheline and Culicine larval stages in Yaoundé. Methods: The effect of the larvicide VectoMax®G, a combination of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) and Bacillus sphaericus (Bs), on larval development was assessed during both laboratory and open field trial experiments. Laboratory experiments permitted the evaluation of five different concentrations with four replicates/experiments. Laboratory experiments were conducted with Anopheles coluzzii “Ngousso” and Culex quinquefasciatus laboratory strains. Open field trials were conducted using sixteen plastic containers with a diameter of 0.31 m buried in an array of four rows with 4 containers each. Distance between rows and between containers in a row was 1 meter. This experiment permitted to test the effect of the microbial larvicide VectoMax®G under operational application conditions on field mosquito populations. Results: The time to induce 100% mortality after exposure to serial concentrations of the larvicide varied according to the dose from 4 - 12 hours for An. coluzzii and 6 - 9 hours for Cx. quinquefasciatus in laboratory experiments. Measurements of the residual activity indicated that all VectoMax®G concentrations were still active after 35 days and killed 86% - 100% of larvae. Lethal dose of VectoMax®G killing 50% of larvae was estimated at 5.24 × 10-8 mg/m2 for An. coluzzii and 1.25 × 10-8 mg/m2 for Cx. quinquefasciatus. The lethal concentration inducing 95% mortality was estimated at 3.13 × 10-7 mg/m2 for An. coluzzii and 2.5 × 10-8 mg/m2 for Cx. quinquefasciatus. Open field trials tests indicated that sub-lethal concentrations of VectoMax®G successfully killed 100% An. gambiae s.l. larvae within 24 hours, while with Culex spp. larvae, 100% mortality was recorded after 48 hours post-treatment. Natural recolonization of water containers by larvae was recorded between 3 and 6 days respectively after the treatment with sublethal doses. Late instar larvae were recorded 5 and 6 days after treatment. When the jars were treated with reference dosage or supra doses of VectoMax®G, recolonization of water containers was observed six days after treatments. No pupae of both species were found 6 and 7 days post-treatment. Conclusions: The study indicated high efficacy of the microbial larvicide VectoMax®G against Anopheline and Culex larvae. Microbial larvicides such as VectoMax®G could be appropriate for controlling mosquito population particularly in areas experiencing high insecticide resistance or outdoor biting mosquitoes.
Highlights
With the rapid expansion of insecticide resistance limiting the effectiveness of insecticide-based vector control interventions, integrated control strategies associating larviciding could be appropriate to improve current control efforts
The effect of the larvicide VectoMax®G, a combination of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) and Bacillus sphaericus (Bs), on larval development was assessed during both laboratory and open field trial experiments
The mortality results showed that third instar larvae of An. coluzzii and Cx. quinquefasciatus were susceptibles to all serial dilutions of the VectoMax®G with 100% mortality recorded within 4 - 12 hours and 6 - 9 hours after exposition respectively (Table 1 and Table 2)
Summary
With the rapid expansion of insecticide resistance limiting the effectiveness of insecticide-based vector control interventions, integrated control strategies associating larviciding could be appropriate to improve current control efforts. Israelensis (Bti) and Bacillus sphaericus (Bs), on larval development was assessed during both laboratory and open field trial experiments. Distance between rows and between containers in a row was 1 meter To minimize the dependence on chemical insecticides, there is an urgent need to explore alternative measures for mosquito control. One such alternative control approach is to include larviciding as an additional intervention in urban settings [5] [6]. Larviciding has been at the forefront of control strategies that successfully eliminated malaria in many places [8]
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