South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

Mortality of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens)(Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) after exposure to some
insecticides; laboratory studies
Abida NASREEN1, Ghulam MUSTAFA1 and Muhammad ASHFAQ2
1: University College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
2: University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Eight Insecticides viz. diafenthiuron, buprofezin, thiodicarb, imidacloprid, carbosulfan,
methamidophos, acetamiprid, thiamethoxam were tested for their toxicity against predator Chrysoperlacarnea (Stephens) through leaf dip bioassay method under laboratory conditions. Insecticides wereapplied at three levels of concentration i.e., low (C1), recommended (C2), high (C3) in a completely
randomized manner. Low (C1) and recommended (C2) concentrations of diafenthiuron and buprofezin
were found harmless while high concentration of both insecticides was found slightly harmful after
24 hours exposure. Thiodicarb was harmless at lower concentration ( C1 ) but slightly harmful atrecommended (C2) and higher (C3) concentrations. Acetamiprid and thiamethoxam were moderately
harmful at lower concentration (C1) whereas were toxic at recommended and higher concentrations.
All insecticides, at all concentrations were found toxic after 48 hours except buprofezin and thiodicarb.
Pupation rates were lowest (0.00 %) in the acetamiprid and highest (71.7 %) in the buprofezin treatment
Key words: Chrysoperla carnea, leaf dip bioassay, mortality, selective insecticides

Introduction
Presence and role of natural enemy in orchards, ﬁeld crops and vegetables have beenstudied (DEAN and STERLING 1992) to reduce the use of insecticides and environmental
pollution. Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) has received much attention as a potential
biological control agent because of its geographical distribution (NEW 1975), its tolerance
to some insecticide (HASSAN et al. 1985) and its relative ease of mass production.
Chrysoperla carnea is predominant species of green lacewing. C. carnea has
green cylindrical body, transparent wings with light green veins, long ﬁliform antennae,
golden eyes and stalked eggs that offer protection from predation (PEDIGO 1989). Larvaeof C. carnea is polyphagous, voracious feeder of cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover;corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (LINGREN et al. 1968); Colorado potato beetle,
Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (NORDLUND et al. 1991). Effectiveness of C. carnea asa biological control agent has been demonstrated in a ﬁeld crops, orchards, green house(HAGLEY and MILES 1987).
In spite of all these preciousness C. carnea with many other beneﬁcial organisms
have almost eliminated from field due to frequent use of non- selective insecticides.
Scientist all over the world are now condemning use of synthetic, organic insecticides.
Received July 12, 2004
Accepted July. 25, 2005

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South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

However these insecticides were effective when pests exceed economic thresholds level(ETL) and economic damaged occurred. But these insecticides have harmful effect onnatural enemies. Now insecticides with novel mode of action have been developed tocontrol pests of economic importance. These pesticides represent the beginning of new
era in integrated pest management (IPM).
In the present study eight insecticides extensively used to control insect pest of
cotton and were selected to test their toxicity against first instar larvae of Chrysoperlacarnea, with purpose to screen out some selective insecticides that can be used incompatible with biological control and to evaluate its potential use in IPM programs inPakistan.
Materials and Methods
Common names, trade names, and concentrations of various insecticides tested
in the present study are given in Table 1. Formulated products of eight insecticides
viz. diafenthiuron, buprofezin, thiodicarb, imidacloprid, carbosulfan, methamidophos,
acetamiprid, thiamethoxam, were selected to determine their toxicity against neonate of
C. carnea under laboratory conditions. Larvae of C. carnea, which were originated fromﬁeld, were obtained from Insect Rearing Laboratory, University College of Agriculture,
B. Z. University, Multan. Three concentrations of these insecticides i.e. C1, C2 and C3
representing lower dose, recommended dose and higher dose were prepared in tap waterand used throughout the experimentations. The insecticides were classified according
to the recommendation of the International Organization for Biological Control, West
Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC / WPRS) working group (HASSAN 1989) as under:Harmless (toxicity class 1) = less than 50 % mortality,
Slightly harmful (toxicity class 2) = 50-79 % mortality,
Moderately harmful (toxicity class 3) = 80-89 % mortality,
Harmful (toxicity class 4) = more than 90 % mortality.
Glass Petri plates (4.5 cm diameter) were used for experimentations. Cotton leaves
were collected from the unsprayed ﬁeld and washed with tap water. Cotton leaf disks of
4.5 cm diameter were cut and dipped into insecticide solution for 5 seconds and allowed
to dry in open air. Untreated control was dipped in tap water only. Moistened ﬁlter wasplaced beneath leaf disks to avoid the desiccation of leaves in the Petri plates.
The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design in three
replicates. Twenty eggs per a replicate were used for each treatment. Gray eggs (three dayold) of C. carnea were placed individually in Petri plates to avoid cannibalism. Eggs ofSitotroga cerealella Oliver were placed in Petri plates as a food for larvae of C. carnea.
Eggs were kept at 27 ± 2 ºC and at 70 ± 5 % relative humidity. Mortality was observed 24
and 48 hours after hatching of C. carnea. Effect of insecticides was expressed as mortalityof ﬁrst instar larvae.
The larvae survived after exposure to insecticide moved to medium sized gelatin
capsule along with 0.024 g eggs of Sitotroga cerealella. After completion of larval
development, pupae in the capsules were kept in Petri plates for adult emergence. Rates ofpupation and adult emergence were recorded.

NASREEN et al. : Mortality of Chrysoperla carnea after Exposure to Insecticides

3

Results and Discussion
Mortalities of C. carnea larvae 24 and 48 hours after exposure to three
concentrations of eight insecticides under laboratory conditions are presented in Table 2.
Low and recommended concentration (C1 and C2) of diafenthiuron and buprofezin were
found harmless and caused less then 50 % mortality, while higher concentration (C3) andof both insecticides were found slightly harmful and caused 61 and 58 % mortality after
24 hours. Both chemicals were remained slightly harmful after 48 hours exposure withthe exception that diafenthiuron caused more then 90 % mortality in higher concentration(C3). ABDELGADER (2000) reported harmful effects of diafenthiuron on predators. HASSAN
et al. (1994) reported that buprofezin was harmless to C. carnea. ERKILIC and YGNN (1997)
found that buprofezin has no or very limited detrimental effects on natural enemies. The
higher concentrations of buprofezin are proved to have detrimental effects on C. carnea ascompared to lower concentration.
Thiodicarb at low concentration ( C1 ) was harmless after 24 hours, while
recommended and higher concentrations (C2 and C3) were proved slightly harmful
after 24 and 48 hours exposure respectively. MCCUTCHEON and DURANT (1993) evaluatedtoxicity of some insecticides against predaceous arthropods and reported that thiodicarb
was tolerated by most of the predators.
All concentrations (C1, C2, C3) of imidacloprid, carbosulfan and methamidophos
were found harmful after 24 and 48 hours exposure (Table 2). BADAWY and ARNAOUTY(1999) also reported that mortalities at ﬁrst, second and third instar larvae of C. carnea
against insecticides belonged to classes’ organophosphorous and carbamates. They
reported that first and second instar larvae of C. carnea were most susceptible againstorganophosphate and carbamates.
Table 1. Insecticides with their commercial names, groups and formulation.
Treatments

n

T1

60

T2

60

T3

60

T4

60

T5

60

T6

60

T7

60

T8

60

T9

60

Insecticides
diafenthiuron(Polo)
buprofezin(Sitara)thiodicarb(Larvin)imidacloprid(Conﬁdor)carbosulfan(Advantage)
methamidophos(Tamaron)acetamiprid(Raja)
thiamethoxam(Actara)
Water(Control)GroupsFormulation TQP/ ha

Concentration (%)
C1

C2

C3

Thiourea

500 SC625 ml

0.25

0.375

0.5

IGR’s

25 % WP

1500gm

0.406

0.469

0.531

Carbamates

80 DF

1000gm

0.8

1.0

1.2

Chloronicotinyl

200 SL

625 ml

0.088

0.133

0.178

Carbamates

20 EC

1250 ml

0.25

0.3

0.35

Organophosphate

60 % SC

1200 ml

0.75

0.9

1.05

Chloronicotinyl

20 % SL375 ml

0.05

0.1

0.15

Chloronicotinyl

25 WG

60 gm

0.013

0.019

0.025

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South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

Data belonging to larval mortality of C. carnea reveals that lower concentrations(C1) of acetamiprid and thiamethoxam caused 88.3 and 86.7 % mortality respectively andfound moderately harmful after 24 hours and harmful after 48 hours exposure (Table 2).
Recommended and higher concentrations (C2 and C3) of both insecticides were foundharmful after 24 and 48 of exposure. LAWSON et al. (1999) reported that thiamethoxam
is classified as slightly harmful to beneficial insects and harmless to predatory mites.
They further stated that it is often applied to the soil, which allows thiamethoxam tosystematically protect the plant without contacting beneﬁcial species, which remain on theplant surface. Therefore, ﬂexibility in the application of thiamethoxam with limited leaf
surface residues result in excellent pest control without disrupting natural enemies. But
in our experiment thiamethoxam was toxic; it might be due to direct contact of C. carnea
with insecticide. No mortality was observed in T9 control.
DUFFIE et al. (1998) demonstrated the survival of predaceous arthropods on cotton
during 1996 and 1997 in growing seasons after insecticides spray. Insecticide classes
included representatives from the following: Insect Growth Regulator (IGR), Carbamates,
Pyrethroid, Chloronictinyl, and Organophosphate. The IGR had low toxicity whilecarbamates were moderately toxic to the predaceous arthropods. While, chloronicotinyl
and organophosphate classes were the most toxic causing dramatic reductions in predator
numbers.
Table 2. Mortality of neonate larvae of Chrysoperla carnea after exposure to different
concentration of some insecticides.
Treatments
T1=diafenthiuron(Polo)
T2=buprofezin(Sitara)T3=thiodicarb(Larvin)
T4=imidacloprid(Conﬁdor)
T5=carbosulfan(Advantage)
T6=methamidophos(Tamaron)
T7=acetamiprid(Raja)
T8=thiamethoxam(Actara)
T9=Water(Control)% Mortality after 24(hrs)% Mortality after 48(hrs)

Toxicity Class(24hrs)Toxicity Class(48hrs)

C1

C2

C3

C1

C2

C3

C1

C2

C3

C1

C2

C3

28.3

48.3

61.67 60

75

95

1

1

2

2

2

4

20.3

38.3

58.3

51.6

65

1

1

2

1

2

2

40

53.36 61.67 61.67 61.67 65

1

2

2

2

2

2

98.3

100

98.3

100

-

100

4

4

4

4

100

100

100

-

-

-

4

4

4

-

-

-

95

98.3

100

96.67 100

-

4

4

4

4

4

-

88.3

100

90

91.6

-

98.3

3

4

4

4

-

4

86.67 96.67 93.3

100

100

100

3

4

4

4

4

4

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

28.3

4

NASREEN et al. : Mortality of Chrysoperla carnea after Exposure to Insecticides

5

Table 3. Pupation rates and Adult emergence rates of C. carnea treated with different
insecticides.
Treatments
T1=diafenthiuron(Polo)
T2=buprofezin(Sitara)T3=thiodicarb(Larvin)
T6=methamidophos(Tameron)
T7=acetamiprid(Raja)
T9=Water(Control)nPupation Rate (%)
C1
C2

C3

Adult Emergence Rate (%)
C1
C2
C3

60

48.4

25.0

5.0

41.7

11.4

3.4

60

71.7

48.4

45.0

65.0

46.7

40.0

60

38.4

36.0

35.0

35.0

31.7

33.4

60

3.4

0.0

0.0

2.0

0.0

0.0

60

9.0

0.0

2.0

6.7

0.0

1.0

60

100.0

100.0

100.0

98.4

96.7

98.4

Treatments T4, T5 and T8 were deleted as 100 % larval mortality after 48 hrs.

Pupation and adult emergence rates from treated larvae are given in Table 3. Alllarvae developed into pupae in T9. In the next pupation rate 71.7 % larvae were pupatedin T2. None of the larvae succeeded to pupate in treatment T4, T5 and T8. Pupation
rate decreased with the increase in insecticides concentration. Adult emergence rates
from pupa are ranged from 96.7 to 98.4 in control. In treatments T1, T2, T3, T6 and T7
emergence rate were 41.7, 65.0, 35.0, 2.0 and 6.7 respectively. No effect of insecticides
was recorded on adult emergence rate in treatments of lower concentration (C1).
A plant protection product (PPP) was considered harmless if mortality is less than
50 % of the larvae treated in initial laboratory test (HASSAN 1989) and no further test insemi ﬁeld and ﬁeld condition will recommended. According to general agreement when
PPP proved harmless in initial laboratory test for a particular beneﬁcial organism is most
likely to be harmless to the same organism in the ﬁeld. Further testing (semi ﬁeld and ﬁeld
condition) is necessary when a pesticide is found to be harmful that it caused more than
90 % mortality to a beneﬁcial organism in initial laboratory toxicity test.
However, the effect of insecticides on a particular natural enemy involves numerous
biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore it would be regrettable to exclude toxic compounds
without looking for their specific uses. Selection of a suitable insecticide in an IPM
programs not depends only on its toxicity level to beneﬁcial insects but also on its efﬁcacy
against the target pest, its weathering and persistency.
It was concluded that insecticides viz., thiamethoxam, acetamiprid, methamidophos,carbosulfan and imidacloprid, were found toxic to C. carnea larvae, and therefore
recommended for semiﬁeld and ﬁeld tests. It was also observed that once C. carnea larvae
tolerated the insecticide exposure, they could pupate and adults emerge successfully.

6South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

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