Fatal food: Silver-coated grain particles display larvicidal activity in Culex quinquefasciatus

Authors: NORTON, AMIE - Kansas State University; Ewing, Robert; Tilley, Michael - Mike; WHITWORTH, JEFF - Kansas State University; Cohnstaedt, Lee

Submitted to: ACS Agricultural Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/24/2023
Publication Date: 9/11/2023
Citation: Norton, A.E., Ewing, R.D., Tilley, M., Whitworth, J., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2023. Fatal food: Silver-coated grain particles display larvicidal activity in Culex quinquefasciatus. ACS Agricultural Science and Technology. 8(37):33437-33443. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c03210.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c03210

Interpretive Summary: Mosquitoes carry various vector diseases. Nanotechnology can be developed to control mosquito populations. Nanotechnology is material that is sized between 1 to 100 nm. A barrier to the mass production of nanotechnology is solvent waste. With this in mind we chose a green method to produce nanoparticles. These nanoparticles showed a larva mortality rate at 1 ppm, and adult mosquito emergence was prevented at rates of 0.1 ppm.

Technical Abstract: Nanotechnology is defined as the creation and manipulation of materials at the nanoscale 1 to 100 nm. The development of nanotechnology has led to the expansion of new technology, which has impacted various fields such as chemistry, medicine, material science, and entomology. One barrier to expand the commercial use of nanomaterials is the ability to mass produce the particles. Here we report particle a mosquito larvicide with mortality rates at 1 ppm, more surprising, adult mosquito emergence was prevented at rates of 0.1 ppm.