US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 9;7:42168. doi: 10.1038/srep42168.
Over-reliance on synthetic pesticides in insect pest control has caused widespread public and scientific concerns for human health and the environment, especially since many insect pests have already developed resistances to conventional pesticides and Bt products. For this reason, there is a considerable interest in development of alternative control methods for insect pest management. Based on laboratory studies, we report that methyl benzoate (MB), a naturally-occurring compound in many plants, may possess toxicity against various stages of a variety of insect pests, including the brown marmorated stinkbug, Halyomorpha halys, diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, and tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, as well as the spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii. Based on our laboratory toxicity data, MB was at least 5 to 20 times more toxic than the conventional pyrethroid (β-cyfluthrin), sulfur &pyrethrin mixture, and some organic commercial products available on the market against H. halys, P. xylostella, and M. sexta, eggs. Because MB is considered an environment-friendly, it has great potential to be used as an alternative tool to synthetic pesticide for insect pest management in crop production, thereby, reducing threats to natural ecosystems and human health caused by over-application of conventional synthetic pesticides.
过度依赖合成杀虫剂来防治虫害已经引起了广泛的公众和科学界对人类健康和环境的关注，特别是因为许多害虫已经对传统杀虫剂和 Bt 产品产生了抗性。出于这个原因，人们对开发替代的虫害控制方法产生了浓厚的兴趣。基于实验室研究，我们报告说，苯甲酸甲酯（MB），一种存在于许多植物中的天然化合物，可能对各种不同阶段的各种害虫具有毒性，包括褐带飞虱、小菜蛾、烟青虫和烟实夜蛾，以及斑翅果蝇。根据我们的实验室毒性数据，MB 对褐带飞虱、小菜蛾和烟实夜蛾卵的毒性至少比传统拟除虫菊酯（β-氯氟氰菊酯）、硫磺和拟除虫菊酯混合物以及市场上一些有机商业产品高 5 到 20 倍。由于 MB 被认为是一种环保型物质，因此它具有很大的潜力被用作替代合成农药的工具，用于作物生产中的虫害管理，从而减少过度使用传统合成农药对自然生态系统和人类健康造成的威胁。
