| Abstract: | Mortality caused to the snail Indoplanorbis exustus by the latices of four species of plants belonging to the family euphorbiaceae has been reported. This snail is the vector of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. It was found that very low concentrations of the latex were effective in killing the snails. The order of toxicity of the four plants was E. royleana > E. antisyphilitica > E. lactea cristata > J. gossypiifolia. The toxic activity of these plants was marginally lost after extraction by organic solvents. The toxic effect of all the plants was both dose and time dependent. It has been suggested that the latex of these plants may eventually find use as molluscicides in the field. |
