Toxicity of fluralaner against vegetable pests and its sublethal impact on a biocontrol predatory ladybeetle

Fluralaner, a systemic pesticide, was originally registered with the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 under the trade name Bravecto for flea treatment for pets. As a GABA antagonist, the footprint of fluralaner has expended beyond medical and veterinary pests in recent years. In this study, we examined the acute toxicity of fluralaner against three pests of Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata, Megalurothrips usitatus, and Phyllotreta striolata in the Solanaceae, Fabaceae, and Cruciferae families, respectively, and the sublethal impact of fluralaner on Propylaea japonica, a widely distributed predatory ladybeetle. Based on LC50, fluralaner was effective against H. vigintioctopunctata (0.098 mg a.i. L-1 for the second instar larvae), M. usitatus (0.134 mg a.i. L-1 for adult females), and P. striolata (0.595 mg a.i. L-1 for adults). For P. japonica, however, fluralaner was substantially less effective (1.177 mg a.i. L-1 for the third instar larvae). Furthermore, the LC10 and LC30 of P. japonica were also consistently higher than the LC50 of the three pests. In addition, we did not observe any significant impacts of fluralaner at LC10 and LC30 on the life history traits, including body weight, developmental time, pre-oviposition period, and fecundity of P. japonica. Based on our results from acute toxicities and sublethal impacts, fluralaner is effective against vegetable pests, while potentially friendly to P. japonica when employed as a biological control agent.

Automated summary

Fluralaner, a systemic pesticide, showed effective control against three vegetable pests but was less effective against the predatory ladybeetle Propylaea japonica. It did not significantly impact the life history traits of P. japonica at sublethal concentrations, suggesting it may be a potential biological control agent that is friendly to this beneficial insect.