The conservation of beneficial insects in agroecosystems, in combination with biological and chemical control, is essential for integrated pest management (IPM) thus, the ban on neonicotinoids has prompted the search for alternative solutions compatible with these principles. Sulfoxaflor, a sulfoximine-based insecticide, has been proposed as a replacement, but its impact on non-target species, such as the two-spotted ladybird Adalia bipunctata (L.), remains insufficiently studied. This coccinellid is a versatile predator, primarily feeding on aphids, and commercialized in Europe as biological control agent. This research evaluated the lethal and sublethal effects of sulfoxaflor on A. bipunctata compared to imidacloprid. Laboratory bioassays assessed mortality, development, fecundity, fertility, and demographic parameters using a population model. Results showed that sulfoxaflor had significantly lower mortality than imidacloprid, with no adverse effects on larvae and minimal impact on adults. While imidacloprid reduced survival, fecundity, and population growth, sulfoxaflor at higher concentrations slightly increased egg fertility and female fecundity, suggesting potential hormetic effects. Demographic modeling indicated that A. bipunctata populations exposed to imidacloprid experienced delayed growth, whereas sulfoxaflor-exposed populations exhibited faster recovery. These findings support sulfoxaflor as a selective and environmentally compatible alternative to neonicotinoids in IPM programs. Further research should explore its long-term ecological effects in field conditions.

BACKGROUND:Halyomorpha halys, (brown marmorated stink bug, BMSB), is a high-concern invasive species causing severe damage to orchards in many countries outside its native Asian range. Management methods other than frequent sprays of broad-spectrum insecticides are needed to restore integrated pest management (IPM) practices in orchards. Chitin synthesis inhibitors are usually regarded as desirable options in IPM programs because of lower toxicity to beneficial insects and non-target organisms compared to neurotoxic insecticides. In this study, the activity of three chitin synthesis inhibitors (namely buprofezin, novaluron and triflumuron) was investigated on BMSB egg masses, third instars and adults by means of laboratory bioassays. RESULTS:Novaluron and to a lesser extent triflumuron were detrimental to BMSB nymphs exposed to residues on potted peach plants. Novaluron caused high mortality among early instars that emerged from sprayed egg masses. No significant differences were found between buprofezin and water control on eggs or third instars. When sprayed on BMSB adults, none of the chitin synthesis inhibitors affected survival, fecundity, or egg hatching. CONCLUSION:Given the activity on nymphs, but the lack of effects on adults, novaluron and triflumuron might be considered for field applications only as a tool in a wider management strategy along with other methods aimed at preventing the invasion of crops by BMSB adults. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

The codling moth Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the key pests of pome fruit and walnut in almost all growing regions of the world and has developed resistance to several insecticides. In this study, the susceptibilities of 15 codling moth populations to emamectin benzoate and 9 populations to lambda cyhalothrin collected in five European countries were measured by standard diet incorporation bioassays. Variation in susceptibility was observed among populations, with LC50 values ranging from 0.0017 to 0.0119 mg a.i./kg diet for emamectin benzoate and from 0.033 to 0.292 mg a.i./kg diet for lambda cyhalothrin. Our results revealed only small variations in emamectin benzoate susceptibility between populations, indicating no selection of resistance to this active ingredient. Even though a wider range of responses was detected for lambda cyhalothrin, our results also suggest that populations remain susceptible to this insecticide. Based on pooled LC95 evaluations, we propose the use of concentrations 0.02 mg a.i./kg of diet for emamectin benzoate and 0.60 mg a.i./kg of diet for lambda cyhalothrin in order to discriminate between resistant and susceptible individuals.

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is native to Asia and has invaded North America and Europe inflicting serious agricultural damage to specialty and row crops. Tools to monitor the spread of H. halys include traps baited with the two-component aggregation pheromone (PHER), (3S,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol and (3R,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol, and pheromone synergist, methyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrienoate (MDT). Here, an international team of researchers conducted trials aimed at evaluating prototype commercial lures for H. halys to establish relative attractiveness of: 1) low and high loading rates of PHER and MDT for monitoring tools and attract and kill tactics; 2) polyethylene lure delivery substrates; and 3) the inclusion of ethyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrieonate (EDT), a compound that enhances captures when combined with PHER in lures. In general, PHER loading rate had a greater impact on overall trap captures compared with loading of MDT, but reductions in PHER loading and accompanying lower trap captures could be offset by increasing loading of MDT. As MDT is less expensive to produce, these findings enable reduced production costs. Traps baited with lures containing PHER and EDT resulted in numerically increased captures when EDT was loaded at a high rate, but captures were not significantly greater than those traps baited with lures containing standard PHER and MDT. Experimental polyethylene vial dispensers did not outperform standard lure dispensers; trap captures were significantly lower in most cases. Ultimately, these results will enable refinement of commercially available lures for H. halys to balance attraction and sensitivity with production cost.

Halyomorpha halys, (the brown marmorated stink bug, BMSB), is a high-concern invasive species causing severe damage to orchards in many countries outside its native Asian range. Control options matching both effectiveness and sustainability are currently lacking. Inhibitors of chitin biosynthesis might be exploited for integrated management programs because of the overall better ecotoxicological profile in comparison with most neurotoxic insecticides used so far against BMSB. In this study, the activity of triflumuron, a benzoylphenyl urea hampering chitin biosynthesis, was tested on BMSB in laboratory and field conditions. In laboratory bioassays, the insecticide was sprayed on potted peach plants (30 cm high) and residues were aged in a glasshouse for 0, 7, 14, and 21 d. Then, third-instar bugs were placed on the plants and continuously exposed to residues. Mortality was scored after 7, 14, and 21 d exposure. Triflumuron caused significantly higher mortality on BMSB nymphs in comparison with water controls at all aging periods. Moreover, aging of residues up to 21 d did not cause any significant reduction of activity. Field experiments were also carried out in 2019 in eight pear orchards. Injuries to fruits at harvest were compared between plots where triflumuron was added to insecticide sprays against BMSB and control plots managed exactly in the same way but without any triflumuron treatment. An overall mean of 9.99 ± 1.98% stink bug injured fruits was detected in plots managed with the strategy including triflumuron, whereas 19.45 ± 3.55% of fruits were injured in plots assigned to controls.

Conventional insecticide assays, which measure the effects of insecticide exposure on short-term mortality, overlook important traits, including persistence of toxicity or sub-lethal effects. Therefore, such approaches are especially inadequate for prediction of the overall impact of insecticides on beneficial arthropods. In this study, the side effects of four modern insecticides (chlorantraniliprole, emamectin benzoate, spinosad, and spirotetramat) on Adalia bipunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were evaluated under laboratory conditions by exposition on treated potted plants. In addition to investigation of acute toxicity and persistence of harmful activity in both larvae and adults of A. bipunctata, demographic parameters were evaluated, to provide a comprehensive picture of the nontarget effects of these products. Field doses of the four insecticides caused detrimental effects to A. bipunctata; but in different ways. Overall, spinosad showed the best toxicological profile among the products tested. Emamectin benzoate could be considered a low-risk insecticide, but had high persistence. Chlorantraniliprole exhibited lethal effects on early instar larvae and adults, along with a long-lasting activity, instead spirotetramat showed a low impact on larval and adult mortality and can be considered a short-lived insecticide. However, demographic analysis demonstrated that chlorantraniliprole and spirotetramat caused sub-lethal effects. Our findings highlight that sole assessment of mortality can lead to underestimation of the full impact of pesticides on nontarget insects. Demographic analysis was demonstrated to be a sensitive method for detection of the sub-lethal effects of insecticides on A. bipunctata, and this approach should be considered for evaluation of insecticide selectivity.

Spinetoram is a fermentation insecticide, derived from the actinomycete Saccharopolyspora spinosa. It works by disrupting the GABA-gated chloride channels and by causing persistent activation of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of spinetoram for control of neonate larvae of both oriental fruit moth (OFM) Grapholita molesta (Busck) and codling moth (CM) Cydia pomonella (L) in semi-field and laboratory trials. OFM and CM neonate larvae responded similarly to spinetoram, which showed high efficacy on both species. In semi-field experiments, regression analysis of the percentage of damaged fruits as a function of days after treatment showed a better performance of the highest spinetoram dose (10 g a.i/hl) in comparison with the maximum recommended field dose of the reference product emamectin benzoate (2.85 g a.i./hl). Surface-treated diet assays revealed LC50 values of 6.59 and 8.44 ng a.i./cm(2) for neonate larvae of OFM and CM larvae, respectively. High percentages of mortality were recorded on both species after 24-h exposure to treated diet. For these reasons spinetoram could be considered a valuable tool in IPM strategies for OFM and CM control. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The green peach aphid M. persicae is a common pest of stone fruits (primary host), but it is a very serious problem on vegetable crops (secondary hosts), because the summer generation could be vectors of several important virus diseases (more than an hundred) on many vegetable crops. The green peach aphid overwinter in Italy mainly on peach as egg and late in winter or in spring attacks flowers and shoots. In late spring it moves to other hosts, which include a wide range of weeds and commercial vegetable crops. In Emilia-Romagna the first nymphs appears on peach normally during the flowering, or a little bit after, and can damage the fruits. After two generations on peach the winged forms appear and migrate to summer hosts, where many other generations run. Depending from appearance, population level, variety and natural control normally a spray at pre-bloom is planned, but a post-bloom spray could be a right time also. To control of M. persicae at post-bloom period 3 field trials were carried out during 2012/2013 springs in 2 different farms on 3 nectarine peach varieties. One of the aphid populations was resistant suspected to neonicotinoids. The insecticides used were: spirotetramat (Spirotetramat), 2 neonicotinoids: imidacloprid [Confidor-O TEQ], thiametoxam [Actara] and 1 pyridinecarboxamide: flonicamid [Teppeki].The results were similar in all trials and showed an excellent and long lasting (persistence) activity of spirotetramat and a good efficacy of flonicamid, but for a shorter period, as well as the 2 neonicotinoids in all trials.

Detailed information on plant penetration activities by pear psylla Cacopsylla pyri L. (Hemiptera Psyllidae) is essential to study phytoplasma transmission of "Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri" responsible of pear decline disease (PD) and to trace and evaluate resistant traits in new pear tree selections for advanced breeding programs. The electrical penetration graph technique or (full) EPG may relevantly contribute to this knowledge. C. pyri EPG waveforms were characterized on basis of amplitude, frequency, voltage level, and electrical origin. Additionally, stylet tracks and the putative location of stylet tips in the plant tissue were histologically related to EPG waveforms by light and transmission electron microscopy observations after stylectomy. More than one waveform occurred in the same tissue: PA, PB, PC1 and PC2 were all detected in the mesophyll, and PE1 and PE2 were both recorded in the phloem. Waveform PE1 was always preceded by transient waveform PD, as previously described in other psyllids. Interestingly, no brief intracellular punctures (potential drop waveforms) were observed during plant penetration, opposite of what is usually recorded in aphids and other Sternorrhyncha.

The pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyri L. (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is a relevant pest of pear, Pyrus communis L., trees in Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy). The susceptibility to the insecticide abamectin was evaluated at different times of the year on C. pyri populations undergoing different control strategies within conventional, integrated, and organic farms. The tests performed were the egg spray and the topic and dip bioassay on adults. The larval mortality was evaluated by dip bioassay on treated leaves. The activity of P450-dependent monooxygenases, a relevant enzyme system involved in insecticide resistance of C. pyri, was also determined in adults by 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation (ECOD assay). Tests on treated eggs and on larvae showed no significant differences in LC50 and LC90, although these values were always lower in individuals collected from organic farms in comparison with all other farms. Tests on overwintering adults revealed differences among populations, probably more related to collection time than to field pest control strategies. Unexpectedly, the ECOD assay on adults showed a slightly higher cytochrome P450 monooxygenase activity in the population undergoing organic control in comparison to others. Our results indicate that egg spray is the most reliable bioassay to verify data of open-field applications. Apparently, no resistance to abamectin has yet been developed by C. pyri in Emilia-Romagna.

The probing behaviour of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Rhynchota Aphididae) was evaluated by electrical penetration graph (EPG-DC) on the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. syn. Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cultivar Motelle, containing the Mi gene conferring resistance to the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) (Rhynchota Aphididae), to test the resistance degree of the cultivar to M persicae. The aphid probing behaviour was also evaluated on a susceptible (mi) tomato cultivar, Moneymaker, after treatment by a chemical plant resistance elicitor, benzo(1,2,3)thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester (benzothiadiazole or BTH). Concerning a possible antixenotic effect due to physical and chemical barriers, no significant differences were found between the two cultivars in the probing and phloem phases. However, a difference was detected between the preinfested and non-preinfested susceptible cultivar in the total duration of phloem ingestion. The lack of significant differences in the entire process of host feeding between resistant and susceptible cultivars is probably due to the fact that the resistant cultivar identifies only the specific elicitors produced by M. euphorbiae. By contrast, the BTH treatment apparently makes the susceptible cultivar less palatable to a generalist aphid like M persicae: the main component of this induced resistance is the reduced phloem ingestion.

We investigated whether or not pear ester (ethyl (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate) attracted adult oriental fruit moths, Cydia molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The electroantennographic responses of C. molesta to pear ester were recorded and dose response curves calculated. In laboratory bioassays, the attractiveness of different dosages was assessed in a dual-choice olfactometric arena. The responses of virgin males and females to pear ester in the presence and absence of pear (Pyrus communis L.), peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.), and apple (Malus xdomestica Borkh.) (Rosaceae) shoots were evaluated. Electroantennographic recordings demonstrated that both male and female C molesta were able to detect the pear ester. In our bioassay, however, pear ester readily attracted males but attracted very few females. The response of males was dose-dependent and they preferred pear ester over apple- and pear-shoot volatiles, whereas no apparent preference between pear ester and peach-shoot volatiles was observed. Therefore, this kairomonal compound could be more effective in attracting C molesta when applied in orchards of secondary host plants, like apple or pear, than in peach orchards.

A study of the constitutive resistance of the apple cultivar Florina, Malus domestica Borkh. (Rosaceae), to the rosy apple aphid. Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini) (Homoptera Aphididae). was performed for the first time by the electrical penetration graph (DC-EPG) system, using the susceptible apple cultivar Smoothe as control. All experiments were conducted with apterous adult virginoparae. The results showed a constitutive resistance in Florina due to a Much longer period before the first probe reflecting surface factors. Sonic weak indications were found for pre-phloem resistance and initiating phloem access vas not affected as inferred from equal time to show phloem salivation. However, the complete absence of phloem ingestion indicates a major resistance factor in the phloem sieve elements, most likely in the sieve clement sap. Surface factors could have affected tissue related variables and this should be studied further. Anyhow. the strong constitutive resistance ill Florina, either on the surface alone or in the phloem as well, effectively prevented reliable experiments oil induced resistance, previously detected by molecular methods.

Ethyl (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate (pear ester) is an adult and larval kairomonal attractant for Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The possibility of using a microencapsulated formulation of pear ester (DA-MEC, a.i. 5%, Trécé Inc.) to interfere with the host location behaviour was evaluated. Laboratory leaf disc bioassays and field efficacy trials were carried out on apple to determine the potential of improving the insecticidal performance of the granulovirus of C. pomonella (CpGV) by co-mixing with pear ester in a sprayable formulation. In laboratory bioassays, adding DA-MEC at low doses of CpGV insecticide increased the larval mortality as a function of time. The field tests performed revealed a significant effect of the blank DA-MEC formulation in reducing fruit injury compared to an unsprayed control.

BACKGROUND: Emamectin benzoate is a novel macrocyclic lactone insecticide derived from naturally occurring avermectin molecules isolated by fermentation from the soil microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis Kim & Goodfellow. The present study aims to evaluate the toxicity of emamectin benzoate to codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), and oriental fruit moth, C. molesta (Busck), under laboratory and semi-field conditions.RESULTS: Dose response bioassays showed that emamectin benzoate had a high level of intrinsic toxicity to early-stage larvae of both species, and that contact activity might contribute significantly to mortality. In the semi-field trials, residual toxicity lasted for more than 1 week. Ovicidal activity was recorded only for C. pomonella (approximately 30%), irrespective of the concentrations tested. Field trials confirmed the efficacy of emamectin benzoate on codling moth when applied at 7 day intervals. Fruit damage, both from the first and second generations, was comparable with that on treatment with chlorpyrifos-ethyl, used as a chemical reference.CONCLUSION: Emamectin benzoate may be considered a valuable tool for the control of codling moth as a component of an IPM programme. Its collective advantages are: high efficacy, lack of cross-resistance with currently used products, control of secondary pests such as oriental fruit moth and selective toxicity that spares beneficials. (C) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry