Efficacy of sunlight-activatable porphyrin formulates on larvae of Anopheles gambiae M and S molecular forms and An. arabiensis: a potential novel biolarvicide for integrated malaria vector control

Biolarvicides, such as microbial formulations based on . Bacillus thuringiensis and . B. sphaericus, have been found to be highly effective against mosquito larvae and are currently employed as eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for vector control. Recently, a porphyrin of natural origin has been suggested as a sunlight-activatable larvicide against the dengue vector . Aedes aegypti. In order to validate the approach for the control of the malaria vector, we tested the photo-larvicidal activity of a novel porphyrin, namely meso-tri(. N-methyl-pyridyl), mono(. N-dodecyl-pyridyl)porphine, C12, associated with two specifically selected carriers, against . Anopheles gambiae s.s. and . An. arabiensis larvae, both laboratory reared and collected from malaria endemic sites in Burkina Faso. Both C12-porphyrin formulates, when administered to larvae at a 50. μM porphyrin dose, were accumulated in the alimentary canal. Subsequent exposure of the porphyrin-loaded larvae to sunlight for short times (0.5-3. h) led to a complete mortality. The high efficacy exhibited by a " foodstuff" porphyrin formulate also in the presence of typical larval food particles opens promising perspectives for the development of an effective photocidal larvicide. © 2012 Elsevier B.V..