Eco-friendly mosquito control: Assessing the larvicidal and repellent effects of Dorema aucheri extract on Anopheles stephensi, the malaria vector

Mosquito-borne diseases, particularly malaria, remain a significant global health challenge, with Anopheles stephensi being a primary vector in regions of the Middle East and South Asia. The increasing resistance to synthetic insecticides and their adverse environmental and health effects have intensified the search for effective botanical alternatives. This study aimed to evaluate the larvicidal and repellent effects of Dorema aucheri (Apiaceae), a medicinal plant native to Iran, against A. stephensi . The hydroalcoholic extracts of the Green and white aerial sections of D. aucheri separately tested across a range of concentrations following WHO Larvicidal bioassay guidelines, while repellency was assessed using the Klun & Debboun (K&D) method. Probit analysis was used to determine LC₅₀, LC₉₀, ED₅₀, and ED₉₀ values. The extracts demonstrated dose-dependent larvicidal activity, achieving up to 98% mortality at 400 mg/L, with the green section showing an LC₅₀ of 98.54 mg/L and the white section 104.72 mg/L. In terms of repellency, both plant fractions showed significant activity, with the green section achieving 90% repellency at 0.5 mg/cm 2 and the white section 85% at the same dose. Complete protection times for 5% doses were 64 min for the green fraction and 52 min for the white. These findings suggest that D. aucheri has considerable potential as an environmentally friendly insecticidal and repellent agent, making it a promising candidate for use in integrated mosquito control programs. Further studies on its formulation and field validation are recommended to maximize its practical application.