Will Eucalyptus Oil Be More Effective in Killing Mosquito Larvae than Insecticide?

Overview

Objectives/Goals My Goal was to find a way to kill mosquito larvae with a more nautral substance. Methods/Materials 40 drops of Eucalyptus oil; 40 granules of Bayer Advanced Garden Mosquito Preventer; 1,200 Mosquito Larvae; 60 Petri dishes; rubber gloves; mask; goggles; eyedropper; piece of screen; 1 gallon of Distilled water; measuring cup. Results The result of my investigation on the toxity level of eucalyptus oil vs. mosquito preventer insecticide indicates that the eucalyptus oil is more effective. Eucalyptus Oil 1 Drop: In 9 out of 10 Petri dishes 100% of all the larvae died. In 1 of the dishes 19 out of 20 larvae died. Eucalyptus Oil 3 Drops: In 10 out of 10 dishes 100% of all the larvae died. Control for eucalyptus oil: Out of all 10 dishes 11 mosquito larvae died. Insecticide 1 Granule: In 3 out of 10 dishes there was 100% dead. Then only 8 larvae survived out of the remaining 7 dishes. Insecticide 3 Granules: In 9 out of 10 dishes 100% of the larvae died. In 1 of the dishes 9 out of 10 larvae survived. Control for insecticide: Out of all 10 dishes 10 larvae died. Conclusions/Discussion After completing my investigation on determining if eucalyptus oil will work better at killing mosquito larvae than insecticide; I found that my hypothesis was correct. My hypothesis stated that the eucalyptus oil will work better than the mosquito preventer insecticide. My results stated that the eucalyptus in the 3 drop dishes worked 100%. The lowest result was the 1 granule of mosquito preventer insecticide with 96%. One observation I made was that after just 10 minuets the 3 drop eucalyptus oil had killed more than half of the larvae. I learned a lot from my research about mosquitoes for example they hatch from egg rafts and they have 4 different stages to their life cycle. First of all they start out as an egg, move to a larvae, change into a pupae, and finally develop into an adult. I learned that eucalyptus oil is one of koala bears favorite snacks. Also that eucalyptus oil is used in many tooth pastes. I also learned that the insecticide is a crystal and is suppose to dissolve in the insects stomach and destroy their stomach and kill them. In conclusion the eucalyptus oil would be a lot better thing to spray where larvae is. I was very surprised about the insecticide not working as well as it says in my research. First of all it is safer, and secondly it works better.

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry J1416

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