Lethal and sublethal effects of fluralaner on the two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

BACKGROUND Two-spotted spider mite (TSSM), Tetranychus urticae Koch is a serious agricultural pest and has developed high levels of resistance to many acaricides. Hence, screening new acaricides is important in the control of TSSM. Fluralaner, a novel isoxazoline, has high activity against agricultural and ectoparasitic pests; however, little information is available about its effects on agricultural mites. Lethal and sublethal effects of fluralaner towards TSSM eggs and female adults were therefore evaluated in this study. RESULTS Fluralaner exhibited higher activity towards TSSM female adults (LC 50 , 0.49 mg L −1 ) compared with commercial acaricides including fenpyroximate, pyridaben and hexythiazox, and also excellent activity towards eggs (LC 50 , 0.36 mg L −1 ). The results of a sublethal effect study showed a significant reduction in the duration and fecundity of female adults with increases in the tested concentrations. The net reproductive rate ( R 0 ) decreased to 67.34 ± 3.96 and 50.29 ± 3.40 offspring per individual in LC 10 and LC 30 treatments compared with control (108.31 ± 7.61 offspring per individual). The intrinsic rate of increase ( r ) and finite rate of increase ( λ ) in the controls (0.30 and 1.36 d −1 ) were significantly higher than in the LC 30 treatment (0.25 and 1.29 d −1 ); whereas, they were almost identical to values for the LC 10 treatment. No change in mean generation time ( T ) was observed at sublethal concentrations treatments. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that fluralaner has high acaricidal activity and could be considered a potential acaricide for TSSM management. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry