Cargando…

Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests

Polyols are commonly used in food and medicines as sweeteners and preservatives but may also have insecticidal properties against some species of Diptera. Here we compared the insecticidal activity and feeding response of glycerol and propylene glycol (PG) on two tephritids: Anastrepha ludens and An...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco, Arredondo, José, Lasa, Rodrigo, Bonilla, Carlos, Debernardi, Diana, Pérez-Staples, Diana, Williams, Trevor
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6410098/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30759873
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10020053
_version_ 1783402157080313856
author Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco
Arredondo, José
Lasa, Rodrigo
Bonilla, Carlos
Debernardi, Diana
Pérez-Staples, Diana
Williams, Trevor
author_facet Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco
Arredondo, José
Lasa, Rodrigo
Bonilla, Carlos
Debernardi, Diana
Pérez-Staples, Diana
Williams, Trevor
author_sort Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco
collection PubMed
description Polyols are commonly used in food and medicines as sweeteners and preservatives but may also have insecticidal properties against some species of Diptera. Here we compared the insecticidal activity and feeding response of glycerol and propylene glycol (PG) on two tephritids: Anastrepha ludens and Anastrepha obliqua, and the drosophilid Drosophila suzukii. First, flies were exposed to solutions of 50% sucrose and the two polyols at concentrations of 1.67 M, 2.78 M and 4.18 M for 24 h and then observed at 24 h intervals for a period of three days. Both polyols elicited strong regurgitation behavior in the three flies and killed them. Regurgitation apparently also reduced flies’ body weight, and this was particularly apparent in insects that fed on 4.18 M PG solutions. A high percentage of individuals exposed to PG solutions perished after 72 h. The number of proboscis extensions, which is associated with feeding preference, was lower in the 4.18 M polyols + sucrose mixtures than in the 50% sucrose solution. Glycerol had a lower insecticidal effect in Anastrepha spp. and very little insecticidal effect in D. suzukii. Finally, elevated regurgitation and mortality was confirmed in A. ludens treated with 1.0–2.78 M of erythritol plus sucrose. Our results demonstrate that PG, and to a lower extent glycerol, have the potential for being used as a safer method of insect pest control. The hyper-regurgitation response may contribute to the insecticidal properties of these polyols in Diptera.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6410098
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-64100982019-03-29 Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco Arredondo, José Lasa, Rodrigo Bonilla, Carlos Debernardi, Diana Pérez-Staples, Diana Williams, Trevor Insects Article Polyols are commonly used in food and medicines as sweeteners and preservatives but may also have insecticidal properties against some species of Diptera. Here we compared the insecticidal activity and feeding response of glycerol and propylene glycol (PG) on two tephritids: Anastrepha ludens and Anastrepha obliqua, and the drosophilid Drosophila suzukii. First, flies were exposed to solutions of 50% sucrose and the two polyols at concentrations of 1.67 M, 2.78 M and 4.18 M for 24 h and then observed at 24 h intervals for a period of three days. Both polyols elicited strong regurgitation behavior in the three flies and killed them. Regurgitation apparently also reduced flies’ body weight, and this was particularly apparent in insects that fed on 4.18 M PG solutions. A high percentage of individuals exposed to PG solutions perished after 72 h. The number of proboscis extensions, which is associated with feeding preference, was lower in the 4.18 M polyols + sucrose mixtures than in the 50% sucrose solution. Glycerol had a lower insecticidal effect in Anastrepha spp. and very little insecticidal effect in D. suzukii. Finally, elevated regurgitation and mortality was confirmed in A. ludens treated with 1.0–2.78 M of erythritol plus sucrose. Our results demonstrate that PG, and to a lower extent glycerol, have the potential for being used as a safer method of insect pest control. The hyper-regurgitation response may contribute to the insecticidal properties of these polyols in Diptera. MDPI 2019-02-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6410098/ /pubmed/30759873 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10020053 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Díaz-Fleischer, Francisco
Arredondo, José
Lasa, Rodrigo
Bonilla, Carlos
Debernardi, Diana
Pérez-Staples, Diana
Williams, Trevor
Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title_full Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title_fullStr Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title_full_unstemmed Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title_short Sickly Sweet: Insecticidal Polyols Induce Lethal Regurgitation in Dipteran Pests
title_sort sickly sweet: insecticidal polyols induce lethal regurgitation in dipteran pests
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6410098/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30759873
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10020053
work_keys_str_mv AT diazfleischerfrancisco sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT arredondojose sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT lasarodrigo sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT bonillacarlos sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT debernardidiana sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT perezstaplesdiana sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests
AT williamstrevor sicklysweetinsecticidalpolyolsinducelethalregurgitationindipteranpests