Larvicidal activity of lignans and alkaloid identified in Zanthoxylum piperitum bark toward insecticide-susceptible and wild Culex pipiens pallens and Aedes aegypti

BACKGROUND: The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens pallens, transmit dengue fever and West Nile virus diseases, respectively. This study was conducted to determine the toxicity of the three lignans (–)-asarinin, sesamin and (+)-xanthoxylol-γ,γ-dimethylallylether (XDA), and the alkaloid pellitorine from Zanthoxylum piperitum (Rutaceae) bark to third-instar larvae from insecticide-susceptible C. pipiens pallens and Ae. aegypti as well as wild C. pipiens pallens resistant to deltamethrin, cyfluthrin, fenthion, and temephos. METHODS: The toxicities of all isolates were compared with those of mosquito larvicide temephos. LC(50) values for each species and their treatments were significantly different from one another when their 95% confidence intervals did not overlap. RESULTS: XDA was isolated from Z. piperitum as a new larvicidal principle. XDA (LC(50), 0.27 and 0.24 mg/l) was 4, 53, and 144 times and 4, 100, and 117 times more toxic than pellitorine, sesamin, and asarinin toward larvae from susceptible C. pipiens pallens and Ae. aegypti, respectively. Overall, all the isolates were less toxic than temephos (LC(50), 0.006 and 0.009 mg/l). These constituents did not differ in toxicity to larvae from the two Culex strains. The present finding indicates that the lignans and alkaloid and the insecticides do not share a common mode of larvicidal action or elicit cross-resistance. CONCLUSION: Naturally occurring Z. piperitum bark-derived compounds, particularly XDA, merit further study as potential mosquito larval control agents or as lead compounds for the control of insecticide-resistant mosquito populations. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2154-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.