UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

Mosquito-borne diseases remain an important public-health concern, creating a need for effective and environmentally safer alternatives to conventional insecticides. The present study evaluated the preliminary phytochemical screening and larvicidal activity of selected plant extracts from Telangana, India, against three important mosquito vectors, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus. Leaves of Azadirachta indica, Lantana camara, Vitex negundo, Ocimum tenuiflorum and Calotropis gigantea were extracted with methanol and screened qualitatively for major groups of secondary metabolites. Larvicidal activity was evaluated against early fourth-instar larvae at concentrations ranging from 25 to 400 ppm, and mortality was recorded after 24 and 48 h of exposure. All five extracts showed concentration- and time-dependent larval mortality. Azadirachta indica exhibited the highest activity, followed by L. camara and V. negundo, whereas C. gigantea showed the lowest activity. Among the mosquito species tested, A. aegypti was comparatively more susceptible, while An. stephensi showed lower susceptibility. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, steroids and glycosides, with differences in their qualitative distribution among the extracts. The lowest LC₅₀ values were observed for A. indica, indicating its comparatively greater larvicidal potency. Overall, the findings highlight the potential of locally available plant resources, particularly A. indica and L. camara, as candidates for further investigation as botanical mosquito larvicides. Further studies involving chemical characterisation, non-target toxicity assessment, formulation and field evaluation are required to establish their practical applicability.