Insecticide Rotations for the Management of Lepidopteran Pests in Cabbage and Collards

Abstract

Insecticide rotations for the management of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L), and other lepidopteran pests of cabbage and collard crops were evaluated in 2010, 2011, and 2012 at Tifton, GA, with the intent of identifying mode of action rotations equal in efficacy to single insecticide mode of action treatments. This was to demonstrate how insecticide rotations, which are purported to aid in the prevention of insecticide resistance, can be an economically-viable insect control option in Brassica crops. The insecticides and mode of actions tested included: chlorantraniliprole and flubendiamide (ryanodine receptor modulators), spinetoram (nicotinic acetylcholine receptor allosteric activator), indoxacarb (voltage-dependent sodium channel blocker), Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai (microbial disrupter of insect midgut membranes), novaluron (inhibitor of chitin biosynthesis) and zeta-cypermethrin (sodium channel modulator). The results demonstrated that all rotations were equally effective in the control lepidoteran pests in Brassica crops to the use of single insecticide treatments and that at least one rotation treatment provided the highest marketable yield each year.