Effect of Selected Insecticides on the Natural Enemies <I>Coleomegilla maculata</I> and <I>Hippodamia convergens</I> (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), <I>Geocoris punctipes</I> (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), and <I>Bracon mellitor, Cardiochiles nigriceps,</I> and <I>Cotesia marginiventris</I> (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Cotton

Abstract

We evaluated the toxicity of three insecticides (lambda cyhalothrin, spinosad, and S-1812) to the natural enemies Bracon mellitor Say, Cardiochiles nigriceps Viereck, Coleomegilla maculata De Geer, Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson), Geocoris punctipes (Say), and Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, in topical, residual, and field assays. Lambda cyhalothrin exhibited the greatest toxicity to the natural enemies. In topical toxicity tests, lambda cyhalothrin adversely affected each natural enemy species studied. Residues of lambda cyhalothrin on cotton leaves were toxic to B. mellitor, C. nigriceps, C. maculata, and C. punctipes. Interestingly, residues of this insecticide were not very toxic to C. marginiventris and H. convergens. Geocoris punctipes and C. maculata numbers in the field generally were significantly lower for lambda cyhalothrin treatments than for the other four treatments, substantiating the previous tests. Although cotton aphids began to increase over all treatments around the middle of the test period, the number of cotton aphids in the lambda cyhalothrin plots was significantly higher than the number in any of the other treatments. As cotton aphids increased in lambda cyhalothrin field plots, the predator H. convergens also increased in number, indicating that lambda cyhalothrin did not adversely affect it in accordance with the residual tests. Spinosad exhibited marginal to excellent selectivity, but was highly toxic to each parasitoid species and G. punctipes in topical toxicity tests and to B. mellitor in residual tests. Spinosad generally did not affect the number of G. punctipes, H. convergens, and C. maculata in the field except for one day after the second application for G. punctipes. S-1812 exhibited good to excellent selectivity to the natural enemies. Some reduction of G. punctipes occurred for only a short period after the first and second application of this insecticide in the field. H. convergens and C. maculata were affected very little by S-1812.

Voracity of Coccinella undecimpunctata: effects of insecticides when foraging in a prey/plant system

“…Given its voracity toward these pests, C. undecimpunctata offers interesting potential as a control agent in the context of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (ElHag 1992;Zaki et al 1999;Moura et al 2006;Cabral et al 2006Cabral et al , 2008. The success of IPM programs depends, in part, on the optimal use of selective insecticides that are less harmful to natural enemies (Tillman and Mulrooney 2000;Stark et al 2007), which requires knowledge of their side-effects on the biological and behavioural traits of these organisms (Tillman and Mulrooney 2000;Sechser et al 2003;Youn et al 2003;Liu and Stansly 2004;Bozski 2006;Desneux et al 2007;Stark et al 2007). Some studies have been done to assess the susceptibility of C. undecimpunctata to different insecticides but all, in some way, adversely affected this species (Salman and Abd-el-Raof 1979;Lowery and Isman 1995;Schroeder et al 1996;Omar et al 2002).…”

Susceptibility of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidea) to gamma-cyhalothrin under laboratory conditions

“…Because of poisoning risks, the use of selective products such as pyrethroids has been emphasized in this agroecosystem (Tillman & Mulrooney, 2000). Smagghe & Degheele (1995) studying the effects of RH 5849 and RH 5992 (tebufenozide) on P. nigrispinus, concluded that their nymphs did not show sensitivity to oral treatment (feeding on treated prey) or topical exposure.…”

Effect of Insecticides and Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) Genotype on a Predator and Parasitoid and Implications for the Evolution of Insecticide Resistance

“…That broad-spectrum pyrethroids are generally toxic to beneÞcial insects has been well documented by previous research (Tillman 1995;Ruberson and Tillman 1999;Tillman and Mulrooney 2000;Galvan et al 2005a,b). We found the pyrethroid lambda-cyhalothrin to be highly toxic to both C. maculata and D. insulare.…”