Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> The increasing incidence of mosquito-borne diseases has highlighted the need for environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic larvicides. This study compared the larvicidal efficacy of aqueous extracts prepared from kaffir lime ( <italic>Citrus hystrix</italic> ) peel, holy basil ( <italic>Ocimum tenuiflorum</italic> ) leaves, and citronella ( <italic>Cymbopogon citratus</italic> ) stems using two extraction methods (grinding and boiling) against <italic>Aedes aegypti</italic> larvae. Second- to third-instar larvae were exposed to a 10% (v/v) aqueous extract under laboratory conditions, with distilled water serving as the negative control. Larval mortality was recorded at 1, 5, 24, and 48 h after treatment. Each treatment was performed in triplicate using 20 larvae per replicate. Significant differences in larvicidal activity were observed among the herbal extracts and extraction methods. Ground kaffir lime peel extract exhibited the highest efficacy, producing complete larval mortality within 24 h. Boiled kaffir lime peel and ground holy basil extracts also demonstrated high larvicidal activity, producing approximately 98% mortality after 48 h. Because mortality in the untreated control reached 11.7% at 48 h, treatment mortality at this observation time was corrected using Abbott's formula. Following correction, ground kaffir lime peel achieved 100% corrected mortality, whereas boiled kaffir lime peel and ground holy basil each produced approximately 98% corrected mortality. These findings indicate that freshly prepared ground kaffir lime peel extract is a promising low-cost botanical larvicide for controlling <italic>Aedes aegypti</italic> larvae. Further studies should identify the active chemical constituents, determine LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values, evaluate non-target safety, and confirm efficacy under field conditions. </p>