Cyantraniliprole at Sublethal Dosages Negatively Affects the Development, Reproduction, and Nutrient Utilization of Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Abstract

To better understand the application prospect of cyantraniliprole against the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis, a diet-incorporation bioassay was adopted to determine the toxicity of cyantraniliprole against the fourth instar of O. furnacalis. Moreover, other experiments were conducted to examine effects of sublethal levels of cyantraniliprole on larval development, nutrient utilization, and reproduction. In this study, cyantraniliprole showed a high toxicity to fourth-instar larvae of O. furnacalis at dosages of 0.05 μg/g (LC5), 0.11 μg/g (LC20), 0.20 μg/g (LC40), and 0.26 μg/g (LC50) administered through artificial diet. At three sublethal dosages, cyantraniliprole inhibited larval feeding processes, decreased the relative growth rate, the relative consumption rate, the efficiency of food ingestion, and the efficiency of food digestion, as well as decreased the contents of nutrients such as proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. All these effects go against to the normal growth of O. furnacalis, including reductions in larval and pupal weight, the extension of the larval and pupal period, the prolongation of the adult preoviposition period, total preoviposition period, and mean generation time, and the reduction of adult longevity, oviposition period, and eggs laid by female adults. Together, these changes resulted in the reduction of the intrinsic rate of increase. Hence, even at sublethal concentrations, cyantraniliprole can affect population dynamics by reducing the survival rate, fecundity, and population parameters. This result provides useful information for developing control strategies for O. furnacalis.

Keywords: Cyantraniliprole; Ostrinia furnacalis; biological trait; food consumption and utilization; nutrient content.