Influences of insecticides on toxicity and cuticular penetration of abamectin in Helicoverpa armigera

Abstract Synergistic actions for mixtures of abamectin with other insecticides in some insect pests were evaluated, and the possible synergistic mechanism was studied by the comparison in toxicity and cuticular penetration of abamectin between with and without other insecticides or synergists in Helicoverpa armigera larvae. The results of bioassay showed that horticultural mineral oil (HMO), hexaflumuron, chlorpyrifos, and some other insecticides were synergistic to abamectin with 152.0–420.0 of co-toxicity coefficient (CTC) in some agricultural insect pests. In topical application tests, HMO or piperonyl butoxide (PBO) increased the toxicity of abamectin in larvae of H. armigera, but the mortality was not affected by s,s,s-tributylphorotrithioate (DEF) and triphenylphosphate (TPP). The synergistic action of HMO was obviously higher than PBO, and when treated simultaneously with abamectin, HMO gave a more significant synergism than if treated 2 hours ahead. The highest synergistic effect (SE) was found in the mixture of ‘abamectin'HMO (1:206)'. The mortality did not increase or the toxicity drop, when a synergist or HMO was added into the mixture of ‘abamectin+HMO ‘or’ abamectin+synergist', respectively. Results from the isotope tracing experiments showed that HMO significantly enhanced the penetration of 3H-abamectin through the cuticle of H. armigera larvae, which resulted in the synergism of the mixture. The cuticular penetration of 3H-abamectin was not accumulatively affected by chlorpyrifos, nor by hexaflumuron, though there was an inhibition within 30 seconds or 1 hour after treated by these two chemicals respectively. Results suggested that the synergism of abamectin mixed with hexaflumuron or chlorpyrifos might be related to inhibition of metabolic enzymes or target sites in the larvae.