The present study aims to investigate the susceptibility status of Aedes albopictus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Cx. vishnui collected from a pig farm in Tanjung Sepat, Selangor, toward 11 insecticides representing the classes of organochlorines, carbamates, organophosphates, and pyrethroids. The results of a World Health Organization adult mosquito bioassay revealed that Ae. albopictus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and Cx. vishnui exhibited different susceptibility toward various insecticides. Overall, pyrethroids were able to induce rapid knockdown for all test mosquito species. The pyrethroids lambdacyhalothrin and etofenprox were able to cause high mortality (> 80%) of all 3 species. The findings of the present study will benefit local authorities in selecting appropriate dosage of insecticides to be used in mosquito control in this area.
Resistance to insecticides in Culex pipiens fatigans has already been reported from two areas in Malaya. In Penang two years' use of BHC as a larvicide resulted in the development of a strain which was found to have acquired a tenfold resistance to BHC, and also to dieldrin to which it had not been exposed. In Singapore, when larval control became unsatisfactory after 6 months' use of a dieldrin emulsion, laboratory experiments confirmed that active resistance to dieldrin had developed. The present observations report the finding of two further dieldrin-BHC resistant strains of C. p. fatigans in Malaya, but differ from the previous reports in that resistance, in one strain at least, was developed as a result of house-spraying with dieldrin against adult mosquitos. In this strain resistance to dieldrin was about 100 times in both adults and larvae, resistance to gamma-BHC in larvae was about 20 times, while resistance to DDT was slight.
The levels of susceptibility of C. p. fatigans larvae from four different localities in Malaya to DDT, dieldrin, malathion, fenthion, diazinon and Sevin have been studied; their toxicity was: diazinon > fenthion > malathion > dieldrin > DDT > Sevin.Larvae from different localities showed a wide range of susceptibility to the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides, dieldrin (40x) and DDT (10x), but the organophosphorus compounds and the carbamate compound, Sevin, gave consistent results from all localities. One strain from a rural area (Lamir) was the most susceptible to all insecticides and has been used as a reference strain for related studies on the development of resistance.
Plants contain bioactive compounds and are constantly explored as safer alternatives to conventional insecticides. Despite numerous studies on many plants, information on the insecticidal potential of underutilised plants like tiger nut, Cyperus esculentus L., are scant, although their pharmacological potentials are well known. Hence, this study investigated the larvicidal potential of crude aqueous extracts of two C. esculentus varieties (black and yellow) on the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say). Mosquito larvae were exposed to C. esculentus crude extracts using the larval bioassay technique of the World Health Organization. Differential larvicidal responses were observed in the test mosquitoes and extracts of Black Dried Tiger nuts (BDT) were more larvicidal than Yellow Dried Tiger nuts (YDT). Acute larval toxicity of the extracts was more pronounced on Cx. quinquefasciatus than Ae. aegypti. The results indicate the potential of C. esculentus (particularly BDT) as a source of mosquito bioinsecticide and merits further studies as a safer alternative to conventional insecticide-based vector control.
The development of new alternatives strategies to synthetic insecticides aimed at reducing pest populations by developing pesticides based on plant extracts without negative effects in non target organisms and environment. The present study was undertaken in order to assess the insecticidal activity of the crude methanolic extract of the Algerian Asteraceae Cotula cinerea, against the larval and the pupal stage of Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae). It is also to determine the chemical composition of the used extract, and to understand the mechanism of toxic action of the tested extract. Based on the preliminary tests, five concentrations of the crude methanolic extract of C. cinerea (0.62, 1.25, 2.50, 3.75, and 5 mg/mL) were tested for their insecticidal activity according to the protocol recommended by the World Health Organization. The chemical profile of the extract was also obtained by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Histopathological effects and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity in treated mosquitoes with LC90 were examined to elucidate the mechanism of the toxic effect of the tested extract (48 h post treatment). Eight compounds have been identified by HPLC. That includes four flavonoids (rutin, quercetin, myrcetin and cathechin), three phenolic acids (benzoic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid) and one alkaloid (berberine). C. cinerea methanolic extract showed good larvicidal and pupicidal activities with LC50 and LC90 values of 1.10 and 4.37 mg/mL respectively against pupae, 24h post treatment and 1.26, 2.35 mg/mL respectively against the fourth instar larvae. Data of enzymatic assay performed on LC50 and LC90 pupae and larvae revealed prominent neurotoxic effects. C. cinerea extract reduced the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme in a concentration dependent manner. Obtained inhibition percentages, 48 h after treatment, were 35.11 ± 7.44 and 51.83 ± 4.04% for pupal stage and 30.98 ± 2.97 % and 48.77 ± 4.72% for the fourth instar larvae for LC50 and LC90 values respectively. Treated larvae and pupae showed also histopathological damages in the pupal cuticle and larval midgut. The results of this study showed that C. cinerea crude methanolic extract could be considered as an eco-friendly alternative for mosquito control.
A standardized larval dipping method was used to determine the infestation rates of Culex and other species of mosquitoes in stagnant water at 20 residential areas. This study also examined the associations between Culex distribution and various habitat characteristics across all states in Malaysia. Identification of 7,848 specimens yielded 6 species dominated by Culex quinquefasciatus (82.74%), followed by Cx. vishui (14.39%), Cx. gelidus (2.70%), Lutzia fuscanus (0.11%), Armigeres subalbatus (0.05%), and Anopheles separatus (0.01%). The Culex larvae occurred in stagnant water with pH ranging from 6.4 to 8.2; conductivity, 139.7 to 6635.2 micros/cm; salinity, 0.07 to 3.64 ppt; total dissolved solids, 0.09 to 4.27g/liter; and dissolved oxygen, 5.11 to 8.11 mg/liter. The mean number of Culex larvae was positively correlated with pH, conductivity, salinity, and total dissolved solids. In contrast, the elevation and dissolved oxygen were found negatively correlated with mean number of Culex larvae. This study documented baseline information on the habitat characteristics of Culex species for the 1st time at different residential areas in Malaysia. The findings of this study will be a timely reminder to local authorities that effective control measures should be monitored regularly in order to reduce the nuisance of these mosquitoes and the risks of disease transmission.
The Southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus (Cx. quinquefasciatus) is an important vector that transmit multiple diseases including West Nile encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis and lymphatic filariasis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) involve in many biological processes such as development, infection, and virus-host interaction. However, there is no systematic identification and characterization of lncRNAs in Cx. quinquefasciatus. Here, we report the first lncRNA identification in Cx. quinquefasciatus. By using 31 public RNA-seq datasets, a total of 4763 novel lncRNA transcripts were identified, of which 3591, 569, and 603 were intergenic, intronic, and antisense respectively. Examination of genomic features revealed that Cx. quinquefasciatus shared similar characteristics with other species such as short in length, low GC content, low sequence conservation, and low coding potential. Furthermore, compared to protein-coding genes, Cx. quinquefasciatus lncRNAs had lower expression values, and tended to be expressed in temporally specific fashion. In addition, weighted correlation network and functional annotation analyses showed that lncRNAs may have roles in blood meal acquisition of adult female Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. This study presents the first systematic identification and analysis of Cx. quinquefasciatus lncRNAs and their association with blood feeding. Results generated from this study will facilitate future investigation on the function of Cx. quinquefasciatus lncRNAs.
New synthesized bis-imidazolium salts that are linked by xylyl derivatives moiety, 1-4 was reacted with Ag2O to facilitate the formation of dinuclear Ag(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes, 5-8, respectively. All the synthesized ligand salts and complexes were characterized by1H and13C NMR, FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Molecular structures of compounds 3, 5, and 7 were elucidated by single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Larvicidal studies against the Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus were carried out on all synthesized compounds following the World Health Organization standard larval susceptibility test. All the imidazolium salts were found inactive while the activity of the dinuclear Ag(I)-NHC complexes on mosquito larvae are varies with the nature of the ligands. Complex 7 has high activity on Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus, emphasising its potential as a larvicidal compound.
Between 2016 and 2020, the Medical and Veterinary Entomology unit of the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge collected over 230,000 mosquitoes. Based on this sampling effort, a checklist of 290 mosquito species in Cambodia is presented. This is the first attempt to list the Culicidae fauna of the country. We report 49 species for the first time in Cambodia. The 290 species belong to 20 genera: Aedeomyia (1 sp.), Aedes (55 spp.), Anopheles (53 spp.), Armigeres (26 spp.), Coquillettidia (3 spp.), Culex (57 spp.), Culiseta (1 sp.), Ficalbia (1 sp.), Heizmannia (10 spp.), Hodgesia (3 spp.), Lutzia (3 spp.), Malaya (2 spp.), Mansonia (5 spp.), Mimomyia (7 spp.), Orthopodomyia (3 spp.), Topomyia (4 spp.), Toxorhynchites (4 spp.), Tripteroides (6 spp.), Uranotaenia (27 spp.), and Verrallina (19 spp.). The Cambodian Culicidae fauna is discussed in its Southeast Asian context. Forty-three species are reported to be of medical importance, and are involved in the transmission of pathogens.
The adult population and species composition of mosquitoes collected in Ranau, Sabah are described. A total of 5956 mosquitoes representing 8 genera and 41 species were collected using human landing catch, indoor and outdoor. Anopheles maculatus was the most common species (15.6%) followed by Culex quinquefasciatus (12.8%), Culex pseudovishnui (12.1%), Anopheles balabacensis (11.1%), Culex vishnui (9.7%), Aedes vexans (9.6%), Culex tritaeniorhyncus (6.6%), Anopheles donaldi (5.6%) and others in very small percentage.
After two years' use of hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC) as a larvicide in Georgetown, on Penang Island, control of Culex fatigans breeding became unsatisfactory. Two laboratory colonies of fatigans were established, one from Georgetown, and one from Kuala Lumpur where no insecticides had been used; tests were then made to determine the median lethal concentrations (MLC) of BHC, dieldrin, and DDT for the larvae of the two strains. The Georgetown strain was found to have acquired a tenfold resistance to BHC, and also to dieldrin to which it had not been exposed, but it showed no significant increase of resistance to DDT, to which it had also not been exposed. A year later, when both strains had passed through some ten generations in the laboratory without exposure to insecticides, the Georgetown strain was found to have lost much of its resistance to BHC, although the MLC was still twice that of the non-resistant Kuala Lumpur strain.
Larvae and adults of Culex quinquefasciatus were used for the test undertaken for malathion resistant strain (F61 - F65) and permethrin resistant strain (F54 - F58). The results showed that the LC50 for both malathion (F61 - F65) and permethrin (F54 - F58) resistant Cx. quinquefasciatus increased steadily throughout the subsequent five generations, indicating a marked development of resistance. The adult female malathion resistant strain have developed a high resistance level to malathion diagnostic dosage with a resistance ratio of 9.3 to 17.9 folds of resistance compared with the susceptible Cx. quinquefasciatus. Permethrin resistance ratio remained as 1.0 folds of resistance at every generation. It was obvious that malathion resistance developed at a higher rate in adult females compared to permethrin. Enzyme-based metabolic mechanisms of insecticide resistance were investigated based on the biochemical assay principle. From the results obtained obviously shows that there is a significant difference (p < 0.05) in esterase level in both malathion and permethrin selected strains. Female malathion selected strain has the higher level of esterase activity compared to the female permethrin selected strain at (0.8 to 1.04) alpha-Na micromol/min/mg protein versus (0.15 to 0.24) alpha-Na micromol/min/mg protein respectively. This indicated increased level of non-specific esterase is playing an important role in resistance mechanism in female malathion selected strain. Permethrin selected strain exhibited non-specific esterase activity at a very low level throughout the different life stages compared to malathion selected strain. This study suggests that life stages play a predominant role in conferring malathion and permethrin resistance in Cx. quinquefasciatus.
Matched MeSH terms: Culex/drug effects*; Culex/enzymology; Culex/genetics; Culex/growth & development
To determine resistance level and characterize malathion and permethrin resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus, two methods were used namely: WHO procedures of larval bioassay to determine the susceptibility of lethal concentration (LC) and adult bioassay to determine the lethal time (LT) which are resistant to malathion and permethrin. These mosquito strains were bred in the Insectarium, Division of Medical Entomology, IMR. Thousands of late fourth instar larvae which survived the selection pressure to yield 50% mortality of malathion and permethrin were reared and colonies were established from adults that emerged. Larvae from these colonies were then subjected to the subsequent 10 generations in the test undertaken for malathion resistant strain (F61 - F70) and permethrin resistant strain (F54 - F63). Selection pressure at 50% - 70% mortality level was applied to the larvae of each successive generation. The rate of resistance development and resistance ratio (RR) were calculated by LC5 0 for larval bioassay and LT50 value for adult bioassay. The lab bred Cx. quinquefasciatus was used as a susceptible strain for comparison purpose. The adult bioassay test was carried out by using diagnostic dosages of malathion 5.0%, permethrin 0.75% and with propoxur 0.1%. All bioassay results were subjected to probit analysis. The results showed that LC5 0 for both malathion (F61 - F70) and permethrin (F54 - F63) resistant Cx. quinquefasciatus increased steadily to the subsequent 10 generations indicating a marked development of resistance. The adult female malathion resistant strain have developed high resistance level to malathion diagnostic dosage with resistance ratio 9.3 to 9.6 folds of resistance. Permethrin resistance ratio remained as 1.0 folds of resistance at every generation. It was obvious that malathion resistance developing at a higher rate in adult females compared to permethrin. Female adults exposed to 2 hours of exposure period for propoxur 0.1% showed presence of cross-resistance among the both strains of mosquitoes towards propoxur and it was indicated by 70%-100% mortality at 24 hours post-recovery period.
Matched MeSH terms: Culex/classification; Culex/drug effects*; Culex/genetics; Culex/growth & development
A nationwide investigation was carried out to determine the current susceptibility status of Culex quinquefasciatus Say populations against four active ingredients representing four major insecticide classes: DDT, propoxur, malathion, and permethrin. Across 14 study sites, both larval and adult bioassays exhibited dissimilar trends in susceptibility. A correlation between propoxur and malathion resistance and between propoxur and permethrin resistance in larval bioassays was found. The results obtained from this study provide baseline information for vector control programs conducted by local authorities. The susceptibility status of this mosquito should be monitored from time to time to ensure the effectiveness of current vector control operations in Malaysia.