Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
PLoS One. 2018 Jun 19;13(6):e0199266. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199266. eCollection 2018.
Short-wavelength visible light (blue light: 400-500 nm) has lethal effects on various insects, such as fruit flies, mosquitoes, and flour beetles. However, the most toxic wavelengths of blue light might differ across developmental stages. Here, we investigate how the toxicity of blue light changes with the developmental stages of an insect by irradiating Drosophila melanogaster with different wavelengths of blue light. Specifically, the lethal effect on eggs increased at shorter light wavelengths (i.e., toward 405 nm). In contrast, wavelengths from 405 to 466 nm had similar lethal effects on larvae. A wavelength of 466 nm had the strongest lethal effect on pupae; however, mortality declined as pupae grew. A wavelength of 417 nm was the most harmful to adults at low photon flux density, while 466 nm was the most harmful to adults at high photon flux density. These findings suggest that, as the morphology of D. melanogaster changes with growth, the most harmful wavelength also changes. In addition, our results indicated that reactive oxygen species influence the lethal effect of blue light. Our findings show that blue light irradiation could be used as an effective pest control method by adjusting the wavelength to target specific developmental stages.
短波可见光（蓝光：400-500nm）对各种昆虫具有致死作用，例如果蝇、蚊子和粉甲虫。然而，最具毒性的蓝光波长可能因发育阶段而异。在这里，我们通过用不同波长的蓝光照射黑腹果蝇来研究蓝光的毒性如何随昆虫的发育阶段而变化。具体来说，对卵的致死作用在较短的波长下（即 405nm 附近）增加。相比之下，波长在 405nm 到 466nm 之间对幼虫具有相似的致死作用。波长为 466nm 对蛹的致死作用最强；然而，随着蛹的生长，死亡率下降。在低光子通量密度下，波长为 417nm 对成虫的危害最大，而在高光子通量密度下，波长为 466nm 对成虫的危害最大。这些发现表明，随着黑腹果蝇形态的生长变化，最有害的波长也随之变化。此外，我们的结果表明，活性氧物种会影响蓝光的致死作用。我们的研究结果表明，通过调整波长以针对特定的发育阶段，蓝光照射可以用作有效的害虫控制方法。
