The toxic and anti-feedant activity of 2H-pyridazin-3-one-substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles against the armyworm Pseudaletia separata (Walker) and other insects and mites.

The toxicities and anti-feedant activities of thirteen asymmetrical 1,3,4-oxadiazoles containing a 2H-pyridazin-3-one group were investigated. The compounds were shown to possess considerable activity in retarding the development of larvae of a number of Lepidoptera, but they were all inactive against Homoptera, Diptera and Acarina. The compounds had powerful anti-feedant activity comparable with that of azadirachtin. The toxic symptoms of the poisoned larvae indicated that the compounds were novel insect growth regulators with a mode of action that might be similar to the chitin-synthesis inhibition of oxadiazole compounds and/or the juvenile hormone effect of pyridazinone compounds.