Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management, Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Pest Manag Sci. 2014 Jan;70(1):39-45. doi: 10.1002/ps.3517. Epub 2013 Apr 17.
The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), is a serious and cosmopolitan pest of many economic crops. Its control has not been adequate owing to its resistance to many groups of insecticides. Toxicity of cantharidin on armyworm and diamondback moth has already been reported. However, its toxicity on H. armigera has not been investigated previously. In this study, lethal and sublethal effects of cantharidin on H. armigera under laboratory conditions are reported.
Results showed gross abnormalities in the population parameters of H. armigera, ranging from larvae to adults. Reduction in larval weight and wing malformation were observed in the cantharidin-treated population cohort, and higher mortality at the larval, pupal and adult stages was observed in cantharidin-treated H. armigera compared with the control. Moreover, almost 5 times less fecundity was recorded in the treated population cohort. Fertility was also severely affected, and reduction in all population parameters was observed.
Cantharidin caused larval mortality and other serious abnormalities in H. armigera population parameters, and therefore may have positive implications for pest management decision-making process. More interestingly, the experiment revealed that cantharidin in sublethal dose mimicked insect growth regulator insecticides. Furthermore, cantharidin could be used as a precursor compound for the synthesis of new analogues and compounds to replace ineffective older compounds.
棉铃虫（Helicoverpa armigera）是一种严重的世界性害虫，危害许多经济作物。由于其对许多类杀虫剂的抗性，其防治效果并不理想。斑蝥素对粘虫和小菜蛾的毒性已被报道。然而，其对棉铃虫的毒性尚未被研究过。本研究报道了斑蝥素对棉铃虫在实验室条件下的致死和亚致死效应。
结果表明，棉铃虫的种群参数出现了明显的异常，从幼虫到成虫都有。在斑蝥素处理的种群中，幼虫体重减轻和翅膀畸形的现象较为明显，且与对照组相比，斑蝥素处理的棉铃虫幼虫、蛹和成虫阶段的死亡率更高。此外，处理种群的繁殖力也明显降低，记录到的繁殖力几乎减少了 5 倍。生殖力也受到严重影响，所有种群参数均减少。
斑蝥素导致棉铃虫幼虫死亡和其他严重的种群参数异常，因此可能对害虫管理决策过程产生积极影响。更有趣的是，该实验表明，亚致死剂量的斑蝥素模拟了昆虫生长调节剂杀虫剂的作用。此外，斑蝥素可以用作合成新类似物和化合物的前体化合物，以取代无效的旧化合物。
