The plant extracts were found effective against the dengue mosquito larva. 
The researchers measured the larvicidal acticity of various extracts of the plants on the early fourth instar larvae of these mosquitoes and have recommended it as an ideal eco-friendly approach for their control.
They tested the extracts of the leaf of these five species of plants in crude hexane, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether, acetone, and methanol. The plants experimented with were Citrullus colocynthis, Coccinia indica, Cucumis sativus, Momordica charantia, and Trichosanthes anguina.
The larvae were killed after 24 hours of application of these extracts. The highest larval mortality was found in petroleum ether extract of C. colocynthis, methanol extracts of C. indica, C. sativus, M. charantia, and acetone extract of T. anguina against the larvae of A. aegypti and against C. quinquefasciatus respectively. The petroleum ether extract of C. colocynthis and methanol extract of M. charantia were more effective than the other extracts.
The authors of this work are from: Unit of Bioactive Natural Products, Department of Zoology, C. Abdul Hakeem College, Melvisharam, India and Department of Zoology, Loyola College, Chennai, India.
