Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-15T23:06:24.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ON CAPRIC ACID AND POTASSIUM CAPRICATE AS MOSQUITO LARVICIDES IN LABORATORY AND FIELD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

M. G. Maw  and
H. L. House
M. G. Maw
Affiliation:
Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario
H. L. House
Affiliation:
Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

For 100% mortality, concentrations of potassium capricate, 0.0009 to 0.005 M, are very effective insecticides against Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus), particularly larvae, in the laboratory (23.00° ± 0.1 °C) within 1 to 5 days. And likewise potassium capricate, 0.001 to 0.002 M, and variously applied capric acid per se are effective against native mosquitoes in water pools in the field (5°–16 °C). With dosage–mortality tests of potassium capricate in the laboratory, larval mortality in A. aegypti was directly dependent on concentration, time, and age, tolerance increasing with age of the larvae. Although pupae seemed little affected, about 60% of the adults formed died during eclosion in 0.003 to 0.005 M mostly within 3 days. Admittedly these substances kill fish, crustaceans, and other insects, but in the field, treated pools soon regained living inhabitants. Some evidence shows that capric acid may be the least liable to endanger fish. Advantageous properties of these long-recognized insecticides include that both kill mosquitoes, both are easily biodegraded to harmless simple components, and both are readily metabolized by mammals.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 103 , Issue 10 , October 1971 , pp. 1435 - 1440
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altman, P. L. and Dittmer, D. S. (Eds.). 1964. Biology data book. Fedn Am. Socs exp. Biol., Washington.Google ScholarPubMed
Briand, L. J. 1964. A permanent pond for studies of mosquitoes and other aquatic insects. Ecology 45: 365–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A. W. A. 1951. Insect control by chemicals. Wiley, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilditch, T. P. 1956. The chemical constitution of natural fats, 3rd ed. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
House, H. L. 1967. The nutritional status and larvicidal activities of C6 to C14 -saturated fatty acids in Pseudosarcophaga affinis (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Can. Ent. 99: 384–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, C. 1961. Biochemists' handbook. Spon, London.Google Scholar
Maw, M. G. 1970. Capric acid as a larvicide and an oviposition stimulant for mosquitoes. Nature, Lond. 227: 1154–1155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard, L. A. 1937. Animal nutrition. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, C. L. and Flint, W. P.. 1928. Destructive and useful insects. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Quraishi, M. S. and Thorsteinson, A. J.. 1965. Effect of synthetic “Queen substance” and some related chemicals on immature stages of Aedes aegypti. J. econ. Ent. 58: 185–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tattersfield, F. and Gimingham, C. T.. 1927. Studies on contact insecticides. VI: The insecticidal action of the fatty acids, their methylesters and sodium and ammonium salts. Ann. appl. Biol. 14: 331–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar