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

Relative Toxicity of Different Fungicides Against
Larvae of Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea(Chrysopidae: Neuroptera)
Abida NASREEN1, Ghulam Mustafa CHEEMA1 and Muhammad IQBAL2
1: University College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
2: Department of Agricultural Extension, Punjab, Pakistan
Abstract
Laboratory experiments were carried out to study the toxicity level of some fungicides against
Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) larvae. Recommended concentrations of Carbendazim 50 WP, Mancozeb
80 WP and Ridomil 68 WP and water (control) were applied through leaf dip method in Petri plates. C.
carnea larvae of 1st, 2nd and 3rd instars were exposed to these fungicides treated leaves in Petri plates.
Results indicated that all fungicides were safer to all larval stages of C. carnea after 24, 48 and 72 hrs.
Highest mortality was observed in Ridomil treated larvae. It caused 4.44 % mortality of 1st and 3rd
instars larvae after 24 and 72 hrs. Maximum pupation rate (89.32 %) was recorded in Mancozeb treated
2nd instar larvae. Adult emergence was 95-97 % in all treatments. The longevity of adults of C. carnea
was nearly similar (49-50 days) for all treatments. The maximum fecundity (950 eggs) was observed in
adults, where larvae were treated with water, whereas minimum (897 eggs) was found in treatment wherelarvae were exposed to Ridomil. Fungicides had no toxic effect on larvae of C. carnea at any stage andfound safer according to IOBC classiﬁcation for measuring toxicity.
Key words: Chrysoperla carnea, fungicides, toxicity

Introduction
Green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), is a voracious and generalist
predator of many soft bodies insect pests and has worldwide distributions (GEETHA
and SWAMIAPPAN 1998, NEW 1975, ZELENY 1984). The daily feeding potential of larvae
is 100-120 eggs of lepidoteran pests (GAUTAM and GUPTA 1998). Effectiveness of C.
carnea as biological control agent has been demonstrated in field crops, orchards andin green houses (HAGLEY and MILES 1987). Conservation of natural fauna either throughselective use of pesticides or by other means has been the main criteria for integrated
plant protection. Many insecticides have been found moderately to very harmful to thelarvae of Chrysoperla carnea in the ﬁeld (VOGT 1994). MATHIRAJAN and REGUPATHY (2002)
in an experiment observed that test concentrations of thiamethoxam, imidacloprid andmethyl-o-demeton had no adverse effects on egg hatchability and lower egg mortalityof C. carnea as compared to water, whereas the larval mortality ranged from 10 to 48.7%. PAULIAN (1998) tested the activity of 28 pesticides in the laboratory on C. carnea.
He stated that insecto-fungicides mixtures, generally for cereal seed treatment such as
Difenoconazol + Lindane, Tirametox 90 PTS, Tebuconazol + Lindane, Gamavit 85 PSu,
Supercarb T 80 PSu, Procarb L, Trialin showed medium toxicity at usual rates, whereas
Received July 12, 2004
Accepted July 25, 2005

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

insecticides (Oleoekalux CE, Sintox 40 CE, Dimevur 52.5 Olerocarbetox, US 1 RV)
were found toxic. GUVEN and GOVEN (2001) tested different pesticides on C. carnea inthe laboratory including three fungicides and found that fenarimol, mancozeb+metalaxyl
and micronized sulphur showed 45 %, 28 % and 16 % death rate, respectively. According
to RIDGWAY and JONES (1968) and GEETHA and SWAMIAPPAN (1998), C. carnea can be wellintegrated in a pest management program that includes certain conventional or systemic
insecticides as predaceous larvae are tolerant to insecticides. The intent of present studies
was to evaluate the toxicity of different fungicides against different larval instars of green
lacewing and subsequent effect of fungicides on pupation, adult longevity and fecundityof female under laboratory conditions.
Material and Methods
Experiments were conducted in C. carnea Rearing Laboratory of University
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Field collected colonyof C. carnea was cultured in the laboratory. The experiment was laid out in Randomized
Complete Block Design with four treatments and three replications with 30 larvae in each
replication. The treatments prepared at recommended dose were Carbendazim 50 WP(T1, 800g/100 L of water), Ridomil MZ 68 WP (metalaxyl and mancozeb) (T2, 200g/100
L of water), Mancozeb 80 WP (T3, 120g/100 L of water) and water as control (T4). All
fungicides were broad spectrum and systemic with protective and curative action (Table
1).
Table 1. Trade name, common name, chemical class and rates of the pesticides used in thisstudy.
Trade Name

Carbendazim 50 WPCommonName

Group

Dose (a. i.)
g/100 L

Recommended
Dose g/100 L ofwater

Carbendazim

Benzimidazole

400

800

Acylalanine andAlkylenebis

136

Ridomil MZ 68 WP

Metalaxyl andMancozeb

Mancozeb 80 WP

MancozebAlkylenebis(dithiocarbamate)

96

200
120

The concentrations of tested fungicides were prepared in 100 ml of tap water.
Healthy leaves of mango were cut into 2 cm diameter disc and dipped in the preparedchemicals for ﬁve seconds and placed on a sieve for 20 minutes to remove deposits offungicides on leaves. The treated leaves were placed in Petri plate of 2 cm diameter and0.5 cm depth. Larvae of each instar were placed individually in Petri plate. Processed
eggs of Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella were provided as larval food at 30
mg/larva. The tested larvae were kept under laboratory conditions (27 ± 2 oC and 60 ±5 % relative humidity). The data concerning toxicity of fungicides were recorded as the9

NASREEN et al. : Relative Toxicity of Fungicides to Larvae of Chrysoperla carnea

number of live larvae after 24, 48 and 72 hours. The live larvae were kept under laboratory
conditions up to pupation. Number of pupae was recorded in each treatment. The overall
effect of a test substance was judged on the basis of insect mortality levels.
Emergence rate, longevity of adults and fecundity of females were also studied.
Ten pairs of adults from each treatment were transferred to cylindrical plastic jars of 21
cm diameter and 11cm depth. Semisolid artiﬁcial diet containing yeast, honey and water(1:1:0.5) streaked on a white chart paper strip of 22 cm length and 2.5 cm width andhanged inside the jars.
Results
The toxicity of tested fungicides was found very low against all instars of C. carnea
larvae (Table 2). The effect of different fungicides was not significant (P≥0.05) on 1st
instar larvae after 24, 48 and 72 hrs. The highest toxicity (4.44 %) was observed in the
Ridomil treatment, whereas lowest (0 %) was recorded in control after 24 hrs. The IOBC
toxicity class was remained “1” throughout all treatments in 1st instar. The influenceof treatments including control was generally the same on 2nd and 3rd instar larvae of
C. carnea as non-significant effect (P≥0.05) was noted after 24, 48 and 72 hrs. Daily
mortality did not exceed 5.00 %. The IOBC toxicity class was remained 1 throughout all
treatments also for 2nd and 3rd instars.
Table 2. Mortality of 1st, 2nd and 3rd instar larvae of Chrysoperla carnea caused bydifferent fungicides.
Fungicides(Treatments)

Larvalinstarn

Carbendazim
(T1)

1st
2nd
3rd

Mancozeb(T2)
Ridomil(T3)

Mortality (%) after

Toxicity class* after

90
90
90

24h
3.3
3.3
1.1

48h
5.6
5.6
4.4

72h
6.7
8.9
7.8

24h
1
1
1

48h
1
1
1

72h
1
1
1

1st
2nd
3rd

90
90
90

2.2
2.2
2.2

2.2
4.4
4.4

4.4
6.7
7.8

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1st
2nd
3rd

90
90
90

4.4
2.2
2.2

5.6
3.3
3.3

6.7
6.7
7.8

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

90
1st
0
1.1
1.1
1
1
1
90
2nd
3.3
4.4
5.6
1
1
1
90
3rd
1.1
2.2
3.3
1
1
1
*
Toxicity classes: 1= harmless, 2= slightly harmful, 3= moderately harmful, 4= harmful.
Water(T4, control)

The highest (92 %) and the lowest pupation rate (81 %) were found in control andthe Carbendazim treatments, respectively (Fig. 1). However, results were not signiﬁcantly
different (P≥0.05) in all treatments. Therefore there was no signiﬁcant effect of fungicides

10South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

on pupation. Adult emergence rate was 95-97 % in all treatments (Table 3). The effect offungicides on longevity of adults was not signiﬁcant (P≥0.05). The highest longevity (50days) was found in the Carbendazim treatment, whereas lowest (48 days) was found in the
Ridomil (Table 3). The maximum fecundity (950 eggs) was observed in control, whereas
minimum (897 eggs) was found in the Ridomil.
Table 3. Adult emergence rate, longevity and fecundity of C. carnea after exposure tosome fungicides.
Fungicides(Treatments)

N

Adult emergence
rate (%)

Longevity1

Fecundity2

Carbendazim (T1)
Mancozeb (T2)
Ridomil (T3)
Water (T4, control)

249 96.58
50.3 ± 0.72 n.s.
925.2 ± 38.02 n.s.
253 97.04
49.5 ± 1.11 n.s.
907.0 ± 46.9 n.s.
251 94.53
47.6 ± 1.86 n.s.
897.1 ± 68.3 n.s.
271 96.37
49.6 ± 1.28 n.s.
950.0 ± 60.5 n.s.
1: Longevity = Mean duration ± S.D. 2: Fecundity = Mean number/female ± S.D.
n.s.: Not signiﬁcantly different between 4 treatments by One way ANOVA.

Carbendazim

Mancozib

1st

2nd
Larval Instar

Radomil

Control96

Pupation rate(%)

92
88
84
80
76
72
3rd

Fig. 1: Effect of different fungicides on pupation rate (%) of Chrysoperla carnea. Verticalbars indicate standard error. There is no signiﬁcant effect among treatments (P≥0.05, one way ANOVA).

NASREEN et al. : Relative Toxicity of Fungicides to Larvae of Chrysoperla carnea

11

Discussion
The results were analyzed by IOBC/WRPS working group (HASSAN 1989) method
as percent mortality was assigned a specific category. All the treatments were fallen
in category “1” as all fungicides were found safer to all larval instars. Fungicides are
sprayed for controlling fungal diseases on many vegetables, mango and citrus orchards.
Previously, TODA and K ASHIO ( 1997) tested 34 insecticides, six acaricides and ninefungicides and found that acaricides and fungicides showed no toxicity. In present studies,
the applications of tested fungicides were found safer for all larval instars (1st, 2nd and3rd). However, GUVEN and GOVEN (2001) found that fenarimol, mancozeb+metalaxyl
and micronized sulphur showed 45 %, 28 % and 16 % death rate, respectively against C.
carnea in the laboratory on larval mortality, whereas in our results it remained between
0 and 4.44 %. The recommended concentrations in the present studies had no lethal
effect on the growth and development of the beneﬁcial insect. The fungicides are mostly
used in orchards, vegetables and other crops against fungal diseases. Effect of mixtureof insecto-fungicides (Difenoconazol + Lindane, Tirametox 90 PTS, Tebuconazol +Lindane, Gamavit 85 PSu, Supercarb T 80 PSu, Procarb L, Trialin ) showed medium
toxicity at usual rates, whereas insecticides (Oleoekalux CE, Sintox 40 CE, Dimevur
52.5 Olerocarbetox, US 1 RV) were found toxic to C. carnea (PAULIAN 1998). Therefore,
applying biological agents (C. carnea) with only fungicides will definitely helpful for
integration of different pest controlling methods. It will help in keeping the population of
predators unaffected.
Similarly, other parameters; pupation rate, adult emergence rate, longevity andfecundity also remained unaffected from fungicides. When there was no direct exposureof adults to fungicides, the indirect effect was minimal. Resultantly, emergence of adults
was normal as found out by MORRISON (1977a, 1977b). The longevity of adult females fed
on Macrosiphum euphorbiae during the larval stage was 46.16, with fecundity of 750.66
eggs/female. Females fed on Trialeurodes vaporariorum lived for 51.83 days and laid
818.16 eggs (YOLDAS 1994). TESFAYE and GAUTAM (2002) found that highest number of
eggs/female (1245.2) was laid when adults were supplemented with baker’s yeast granules
plus 50% honey followed by baker’s yeast granules plus castor pollen plus 50% honey(1069.2) and castor pollen plus 50% honey (450). The reproductive period of female wasobserved to reach up to 8, 9, 8 and 4 weeks when fed with baker’s yeast granules plus
castor pollen and 50% honey, baker’s yeast granules plus 50% honey, castor pollen and
50%, honey and 50% honey, respectively. Therefore, differences of fecundity between
these studies and ours did not depend on the effect of fungicides but depend on foods forthe adult.
Knowledge of the effects of pesticides on biological control agents is required for the
successful implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) programs (CABRERA et al.
2004). It was concluded that all the three fungicides have no toxic effect on larval, pupal
as well as adult stage of C. carnea when applied at larval stage. The above-mentioned
results suggest that these fungicides are safe to the predator (all stages) and can easily be
manipulated in integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

12South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

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