ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Impact of Punica granatum-based green larvicide on the predation rate of Polypedates cruciger for the control of mosquito vectors, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) Arulsamy Jebanesan 1 & Mathalaimuthu Baranitharan 1 & Kalimuthu Kovendan 1 & Pasco B. Avery 2 Received: 20 March 2020 /Accepted: 28 September 2020 # African Association of Insect Scientists 2020 Abstract Mosquitoes can transmit the causal agent of various human diseases, resulting in millions of deaths every year. In the present study, four simple and inexpensive leaf extracts of Punica granatum, prepared with methanol solvents of increasing polarity, against various developmental stages of the malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi and filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus were assessed. The compound composition in each methanol extract was first identified using a gas chromatograph–mass spectro- photometer analysis and the main component was phenol, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl); then it was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral analysis of 1 H NMR. The LC 50 and LC 90 values of the methanol-derived extract against mosquito larvae were 125.78 and 225.98; 115.28 and 209.50 ppm, against both vectros. Under laboratory conditions, the predation rate of the Polypedates cruciger against An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus larvae was assessed. The mean number of mosquito prey per larval instars (I to IV) consumed daily by the tadpoles was 22.16 (I), 20.78 (II), 18.96 (III), 15.17 (IV) and 21.30 (I), 19.72 (II), 18.04 (III), 13.78 (IV) for An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus. Post-exposure to the methanol-derived leaf extract of P. granatum, the mean number of mosquito larvae prey consumed per tadpole per day increased which indicates that this natural mosquito larvicide on non-target tadpoles is compatible and can be used as part of a biological control program against these mosquitoes. This study suggests that the effective plant crude methanol-derived extracts has potential as an alternative eco- friendly approach for vector control of these mosquito larval pests. Keywords Mosquito vectors . Polypedates cruciger . Punica granatum . GC-MS . Mass spectra . 1 H NMR Introduction Mosquitoes are vectors of pathogens and parasites that can cause epidemics with the increasing human and animal pop- ulations in the world (Mehlhorn et al. 2012; Benelli 2015; Baranitharan et al. 2016a, 2016b). Malaria continues to be a major global public health problem with 3.3 billion people at risk in 106 countries (Karunamoorthi et al. 2013; Baranitharan et al. 2019a, 2019b). Malaria was responsible for ~306, 000 children under-5 years old, including 292, 000 in the African Region (WHO 2015). Supposedly between 2000 and 2015, 17 countries eliminated malaria, with a further 13 countries “ap- proaching elimination” (WHO 2016). However, according to a report in 2017, India still accounted for 6% of all malaria cases in the world, 6% of the deaths, and 51% of the cases in global Plasmodium vivax cases. The report estimated the total cases in India at 1.31 million and deaths at 194 thousand (WHO 2017). Culex (Cx.) quinquefasciatus, commonly known as the southern house mosquito exists throughout the tropics and subtropical regions of the world. This mosquito which can vector the filarial nematode, Wuchereria bancrofti which can cause lymphatic filariasis, Rift Valley fever virus and * Kalimuthu Kovendan gokulloyo@yahoo.co.in 1 Division of Vector Biology and Control, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu 608 002, India 2 Hayslip Biological Control Research and Containment Laboratory, Indian River Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Fort Pierce Florida 34945, USA International Journal of Tropical Insect Science https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-020-00293-7