Effect Toxic and Behavioral of Annona mucosa (Annonaceae) on the Tomato Leaf Miner

Jeniffer S Q Bastos ,Mônica J B Pereira ,Marilza S Costa ,Leonardo Morais Turchen ,Daniela O Pinheiro ,Paulo S G Cremonez

doi:10.5539/jas.v10n8p362

Abstract

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is considered a pest with high destructive potencial and its control depends mainly on successive applications of insecticides. Therefore, new alternatives for the control of the tomato leaf miner using plants with insecticidal potential have been examined. This study was aimed at evaluating the toxic effect of Annona mucosa extract on the developmental stages of T. absoluta. Larval survival bioassay was performed in which newly-hatched caterpillars were inoculated in tomato leaflets sprayed with A. mucosa extract in the LC50 and LC90 treatments and the insecticidal controls chlorfenapyr, methanol, and water. To identify the mode of action of the extract in caterpillars, histological analyzes of the integument and gut were carried out. To evaluate ovicidal activity and oviposition repellency, only the LC50 treatment and controls (water and methanol) were carried out. In the ovicidal bioassay 75 eggs/treatment were used, and for the oviposition repellency, 10 couples/treatment, with 10 replicates. In the larval survival bioassay, a significant difference among survival curves, and the crude extract of A. mucosa significantly reduced the survival of T. absoluta caterpillars. The mode of action of the extract occurred by contact and ingestion, as indicated by changes in the integument and gut. The extract of A. mucosa also interfered in the embryonic development of T. absoluta, with a viability of more than 90% of the eggs. Regarding the behavioral effect, the extract reduced oviposition rates of T. absoluta females. Thus, A. mucosa extract had toxic effects on the different stages of pest development.

Highlights

The tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an economically significant pest of tomato (Desneux et al, 2010), as it causes damage at all stages of plant development.The control of this pest insects is carried out through successive applications of synthetic insecticides
In view of the results that confirm the insecticidal action of A. mucosa, the aim of this study was to test the toxic effect of this species and the possible changes cells in caterpillars in laboratory bioassays
It was observed that the survival curves (χ2 = 253.85, df = 4 and P < 0.0001) differed, since the crude extract of A. mucosa significantly reduced the survival of T. absoluta caterpillars in all treatments in relation to controls water and methanol

Summary

Introduction

The tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an economically significant pest of tomato (Desneux et al, 2010), as it causes damage at all stages of plant development The control of this pest insects is carried out through successive applications of synthetic insecticides. In contrast to the problems presented, there is a need to search for safer forms to be used in the control of this pest, through the use of bioactive substances in plants which chemical characteristics potential for the synthesis of new products In this context, insecticidal plants can be an alternative for playing an important role in the sustainable control of insect pests, since they have combinations of complex molecules that allow biological effects to be the result of a jas.ccsenet.org The excessive use of insecticides has adverse effects on the natural control of pests insect, environmental pollution and damage to human health (Picanço, Bacci, Crespo, Miranda, & Martins, 2007; Aktar, Sengupta, & Chowdhury, 2009).

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