Abstract
Leaf-cutting ants are pests of great economic importance due to the damage they cause to agricultural and forest crops. The use of organosynthetic insecticides is the main form of control of these insects. In order to develop safer technology, the objective of this work was to evaluate the formicidal activity of the essential oils of two Hyptis pectinata genotypes (chemotypes) and their major compounds on the leaf-cutting ants Acromyrmex balzani Emery and Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel. Bioassays of exposure pathways (contact and fumigation) and binary mixtures of the major compounds were performed. The major compounds identified in the essential oils of H. pectinata were β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide and calamusenone. The essential oils of H. pectinata were toxic to the ants in both exposure pathways. Essential oils were more toxic than their major compounds alone. The chemotype calamusenone was more toxic to A. balzani in both exposure pathways. A. sexdens rubropilosa was more susceptible to the essential oil of the chemotype β-caryophyllene in both exposure pathways. In general, the binary mixtures of the major compounds resulted in additive effect of toxicity. The essential oils of H. pectinata is a raw material of great potential for the development of new insecticides.
Highlights
Cutting-ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex are responsible for high losses in agricultural and forest crops
Twenty-seven compounds were identified in the essential oils, and 90% of their composition consisted of sesquiterpenes
The identification of the compounds present in the essential oils of the genotypes of H. pectinata allowed the distinction of these compounds into chemotypes
Summary
Cutting-ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex are responsible for high losses in agricultural and forest crops. They are distributed all over the neotropical region [1], and attack plantations throughout the year [2]. The damage is related to the cutting of plant fragments used as substrate for the cultivation of the symbiotic fungus that makes part of cutting-ants’ diet [3] These insects are able to choose the plant material to be cut, and they may discriminate species of the same genus, and even plants of the same species [4]. This knowledge allows the use of these compounds in the management of these pests, to the detriment of conventional insecticides [7]
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