Abstract:
Species of Apodachlya, Lagenidium, Thraustotheca,
Saprolegnia, Achlya, Dictyuchus and Aphanomyces belonging to
Class Oomycetes and Monoblepharella, Allomyces and
Coelomomyces of Class Chytridiomycetes were isolated, identified
and tested for larvicidal activity on third instar Aedes aegypti
larvae. Sorghum seeds were used as the nutrient source to ensure
the survival of the fungi. The larvicidal activity of the water fungi
were determined by one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and
Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Among 10 isolated water
fungi species, Apodachlya sp., Lagenidium sp., Monoblepharella
sp., Allomyces sp. and Thraustotheca sp. were found to have
significant larvicidal effects against Aedes aegypti. The Pearson
product-moment correlation coefficient was used to determine
whether zoospore count has an effect on the mortality of the larvae.
Results indicated that there is an almost near to zero or minimal
correlation between the two variables and that only a small
percentage of larval mortality was influenced by zoospore count.
This meant that the type of species of fungi applied to the larvae of
Aedes aegypti determine the degree of mortality values.
