Secondary metabolites produced by
Trichoderma viride
, a deuteromycetes fungus, under submerged culture condition were formulated
and evaluated for oviposition attractancy against gravid females of
Culex quinquefasciatus
mosquito. At a concentration of 10µg ml
-1
the formulation showed remarkable attractancy with an oviposition active index
(OAI) of +0.52. When the oviposition attractancy of the formulation was compared
with a known oviposition attractant, p-cresol, both at 10
µ
g ml
-1
, the former was found to be more attractive to result in 70% egg laying than
the later with 30% egg laying. Thin layer chromatography fractions of the secondary
metabolites showed that a fraction with Rf value of 0.88 was highly active
as oviposition attractant with an OAI of +0.65. Further work on identification
of the active principle(s) of the microbial formulation might lead to an oviposition
attractant useful in mosquito vector management.