Abstract
BackgroundThe bio-pesticide abamectin has been used to control a large variety of insects, including Diptera species, attributed to its high toxicity with virtually no residual effects on treated crops. Its low residual effect ensures the survival of natural enemies and other non-target organisms. Imidacloprid is also widely used for insect pest control due to its potency and high insect selectivity in comparison to mammals. On the other hand, diazinon has been applied extensively to control immature fruit fly stages, mature larvae, pre-pupae, and pupae in soil drench application, thus, affecting the whole agroecosystem, including the natural enemies.ResultsThe toxic effects of abamectin and imidaclopride proposed as a replacement for diazinone in soil treatment, were studied against a laboratory strain of the peach fruit fly (PFF), Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Diptera: Tephritidae) under field-caged conditions. Five days old PFF pupae were treated by each pesticide. PFF pupae exhibited different levels of susceptibility to the tested pesticides. Non-significant differences in the pupal mortality rates were obtained between imidacloprid (77.52%), abamectin (77.22%), or diazinon (73.89%). Diazinon and abamectin achieved the highest percentages of total mortality (100%), followed by imidacloprid (98.89%). Real mortality rates were mostly concentration-dependent, while the deformed flies rate depended on the chemical sub-group of insecticide and concentration. Additionally, the biochemical studies revealed different acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) inhibition levels caused by the pesticides on the treated flies sampled at 24, 48, and 72 hours post fly emergence.ConclusionThe bio-insecticide abamectin is an option to diazinon for the control of PFF pupae. Also, soil treatment might be an alternative for PFF pupae control.
Highlights
The bio-pesticide abamectin has been used to control a large variety of insects, including Diptera species, attributed to its high toxicity with virtually no residual effects on treated crops
This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of abamectin and imidacloprid as replacements for diazinon in soil treatments against the pupal stage of B. zonata, under field-caged conditions
Significant differences based on abamectin concentration were obtained in both real pupal mortality (F = 5.91, df = 3, p = 0.02) and deformed adult-fly rates (F = 21.69, df = 3, p = 0.0003), as well as non-significant differences in mortality rates of adult flies
Summary
The bio-pesticide abamectin has been used to control a large variety of insects, including Diptera species, attributed to its high toxicity with virtually no residual effects on treated crops. The peach fruit fly (PFF), Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major destructive tephritid species. This quarantine pest threats commercial fruits’ production in Egypt (EPPO 2002). Chemical control uses increments residues of pesticides in post-harvested fruits For these reasons, different international organizations, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Commission (EC), have established and enforced the detection of maximum residue limits (MRLs) in various foods. Different international organizations, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Commission (EC), have established and enforced the detection of maximum residue limits (MRLs) in various foods These are the highest levels of residues expected to be in the food after a pesticide is used according to authorized agricultural regulations. Several insecticides have been tested in nurseries for fruit fly eradication programs to replace diazinon as a soil treatment (Stark et al 2014)
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