Abstract
Mosquitoes are key vectors of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis, Zika virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus. Eco-friendly control tools of Culicidae vectors are a priority. Green nanotechnologies may help to boost the effectiveness of mosquito vector control. We proposed a facile fabrication of poly-disperse and stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the Aganosma cymosa leaf extract. Nanoparticles were characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Nanoparticles showed high toxicity on eggs and larvae of Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. LC50 values were 12.45, 13.58 and 14.79 μg/mL, respectively. No egg hatchability was noted post-treatment with 40, 50 and 60 μg/mL, respectively. Nanoparticles were found safer to non-target mosquito predators Anisops bouvieri, Diplonychus indicus and Gambusia affinis, LC50 values ranged from 673.36 to 2247.43 µg/mL. Notably, AgNPs showed high oviposition attractiveness towards the three mosquito species. Overall, the oviposition attractiveness of the A. cymosa extract coupled with the ovicidal action of AgNPs can help to develop “lure and kill” tools to be used at mosquito breeding sites.
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