Larvicidal, and cytoxicity of Lepidium sativum L. seed extract against Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae)

In this work, we investigated the larvicidal, ovicidal, and histopathological alterations induced by Lepidium sativum seed extracts in Culex pipiens. Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol solvents were used for the seed extraction. Only ethyl acetate seed extract was active against the third instar mosquito larvae of Cx. pipiens. The ethyl acetate extract had an LC50 of 27.03 µg/mL. Egg hatchability was between 95% (25 µg/mL) and 5% (200 µg/mL). The ethyl acetate treated larvae showed protruding epithelial cells, and degraded microvilli. The total phenolic content was 0.3 ± 0.0 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g in the ethyl acetate extract.