Parasite Epidemiology and Control · Published 2026-05-27 · DOI 10.1016/j.parepi.2026.e00515
Joel Daniel Castañeda-Espinoza, Juan Sánchez-Arriaga, Armando Valdez-Ramírez, Juan Ramírez-Zamora, Olivia Pérez-Valera, Guillermo Delgado, Gabriel Flores-Franco, Rodolfo Figueroa-Brito
This study evaluated the larvicidal activity of hexanic, acetonic, and methanolic extracts obtained from the fruits-seeds and stems of Hippocratea excelsa against larvae of Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles albimanus. Acute toxicity bioassays were conducted under in vitro conditions using a completely randomized design. Major chemical compounds were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results showed that the hexanic extracts from the stem and fruit–seed at concentrations of 20–200 ppm caused 100% larval mortality in all three mosquito species after 12 h of exposure. The hexanic stem extract showed LC₅₀ values of 4, 4, and 3 ppm at 12 h for Ae. aegypti, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and An. albimanus, respectively. Similarly, the hexanic fruit–seed extract showed LC₅₀ values of 3.7, 3.7, and 3.4 ppm at 12 h for the same species. GC–MS analysis of the hexane stem extract identified hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester (1), 5-cyclohexyl-1-pentene (2), 2-methyloctacosane (3), eicosane (4), squalene (5), β-amyrone (6), and friedelan-3-one (7). These findings suggest that hexanic extracts from the stem and fruit–seeds of H. excelsa possess larvicidal potential for the control of Ae. aegypti, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and An. albimanus larvae.
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Castañeda-Espinoza, J., Sánchez-Arriaga, J., Valdez-Ramírez, A., et al. (2026). Larvicidal activity of Hippocratea excelsa extracts against larvae: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasite Epidemiology and Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parepi.2026.e00515