A Binary Mixture of Emamectin Benzoate and Chlorantraniliprole Supplemented with an Adjuvant Effectively Controls Spodoptera frugiperda

The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda is a notorious pest, causing severe crop damage worldwide and prompting effective prevention and control. Over-reliance on and intensive use of insecticides are prone to leading to the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance, urging rational insecticide application. One effective way of rational insecticide application is to apply insecticides of different modes of action in combination or supplemented with adjuvants. In this study, we assessed the efficacies of two individual insecticides, emamectin benzoate (EB) and chlorantraniliprole (CT), and their mixture, supplemented with and without the oil adjuvant Jijian (R) to control FAW in laboratory bioassays and a field trial. Both EB and CT showed high toxicities to FAW. The EB x CT mixture at a mass ratio of 9:1 yielded a remarkable synergistic effect, with the co-toxicity coefficient (CTC) being 239.38 and the median lethal concentration (LC50) being 0.177 mg/L. In leaf-spray bioassays, the addition of the adjuvant reduced the LC50 values of both the individual insecticides and the EB x CT mixture by more than 59%, significantly improving the efficacies. The field trial confirmed the synergistic effects of the adjuvant, which reduced the amount of EB x CT mixture by 80%. This study provides an effective and promising insecticide-adjuvant mixture to control S. frugiperda.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the toxicities of emamectin benzoate (EB) and chlorantraniliprole (CT) individually and in a mixture against the fall armyworm. The mixture showed a remarkable synergistic effect, and the addition of an oil adjuvant improved the efficacy of both the individual insecticides and the mixture. This study provides a promising insecticide-adjuvant mixture for controlling the fall armyworm.