Taylor Elizabeth E, Grimenstein Anna E, King Bethia H, Burgess Edwin R
Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA.
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
J Insect Sci. 2025 May 9;25(3). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/ieaf060.
The house fly, Musca domestica L., is a vector of pathogens. When sanitation measures fail to control fly populations, pesticides are often used. Fungal biopesticides have been suggested as another tool in fly control. Our study investigated whether inhibitors of eicosanoid biosynthesis (EBI), and presumably of immunity, combined with the fungal biopesticide BotaniGard ES is a feasible option for a new biopesticide formulation. The EBIs tested were dexamethasone, naproxen, and esculetin. An insecticide-susceptible and an insecticide-resistant house fly strain were tested. Compared to a control sugar cube with no EBI and no BotaniGard ES, both strains spent a shorter duration at sugar cubes with fungus alone and with fungus combined with naproxen; flies from the susceptible strain spent a shorter duration at cubes with fungus combined with dexamethasone; and flies from the resistant strain spent a shorter duration at cubes with fungus combined with esculetin. Both strains, whether exposed to fungus, fungus with dexamethasone, or fungus with naproxen, had higher mortality risk compared to a control. With or without injection of an EBI, immersion in a fungal solution increased mortality. However, with CAR21 flies, mortality was greater with the naproxen injection than with dexamethasone- or esculetin injection with the fungal immersion. Due to no greater mortality for both strains for all EBI and BotaniGard ES combinations compared to BotaniGard ES alone, it is not recommended that dexamethasone, esculetin, or naproxen be used in conjunction with BotaniGard ES for house fly control.
家蝇（Musca domestica L.）是病原体的传播媒介。当卫生措施无法控制苍蝇数量时，通常会使用杀虫剂。真菌生物杀虫剂被认为是控制苍蝇的另一种手段。我们的研究调查了类花生酸生物合成抑制剂（EBI）以及可能的免疫抑制剂与真菌生物杀虫剂BotaniGard ES联合使用，是否是一种可行的新型生物杀虫剂配方选择。所测试的EBI有地塞米松、萘普生和七叶亭。对一种对杀虫剂敏感和一种对杀虫剂有抗性的家蝇品系进行了测试。与不含EBI和BotaniGard ES的对照糖块相比，两个品系在仅含真菌以及含真菌与萘普生组合的糖块上停留的时间都较短；敏感品系的苍蝇在含真菌与地塞米松组合的糖块上停留的时间较短；抗性品系的苍蝇在含真菌与七叶亭组合的糖块上停留的时间较短。与对照相比，两个品系无论暴露于真菌、真菌与地塞米松组合或真菌与萘普生组合下，死亡风险都更高。无论是否注射EBI，浸入真菌溶液都会增加死亡率。然而，对于CAR21品系的苍蝇，浸入真菌溶液时，注射萘普生后的死亡率高于注射地塞米松或七叶亭后的死亡率。由于与单独使用BotaniGard ES相比，所有EBI与BotaniGard ES组合对两个品系的死亡率都没有更高，因此不建议将地塞米松、七叶亭或萘普生与BotaniGard ES联合用于控制家蝇。
