A sublethal concentration of afidopyropen suppresses the population growth of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is an important insect pest of cotton crops worldwide. The objectives of this study were to determine the acute toxicity of afidopyropen and whether there are any effects of sublethal concentrations of afidopyropen on the biological characteristics of A. gossypii. The results showed that afidopyropen possesses high acute toxicity to adult A. gossypii with a 72 h LC50 value of 1.062 mg L–1. A sublethal concentration (LC10) of afidopyropen significantly decreased adult longevity, fecundity and oviposition days of female adults in both F0 and F1 generations. The total pre-adult survival of F1 progeny was also significantly reduced by 30% at the LC10 of afidopyropen. In addition, the nymph developmental time, pre-adult period, adult pre-reproductive period (APRP), and total pre-reproductive period (TPRP) of the F1 progeny were significantly prolonged compared with the control. Several population parameters, including the net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) of F1 progeny were significantly decreased by a sublethal afidopyropen concentration exposure. These results indicated that sublethal concentration of afidopyropen can significantly suppress A. gossypii population growth. It would be useful for assessing the overall effects of afidopyropen on A. gossypii.