Novel meta‐diamide insecticide, broflanilide, suppresses the population of common cutworm Spodoptera litura through its lethal and sublethal effects

Background Broflanilide has been registered in China for control of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera pests, and it is widely used to control the target pests on lethal and sublethal levels. Therefore, lethal and sublethal effects of broflanilide to the common cutworm (CCW) Spodoptera litura Fabricius, a representative lepidopteran pest in agricultural crops, were examined to explore its ecological influence to pests in this study. Results To F0 , broflanilide had little influence on hatchability of eggs, but significantly reduced the survival rate of neonate. The lethal activity of broflanilide to 3rd instar larvae and adults was 0.13 mg/kg (LD50 ) and 3.59 mg/L (LC50 ) respectively at 48 h. After treated by sublethal dose (LD10 and LD30 ) of broflanilide, the duration from 3rd to 6th instar larvae and the mean fecundity of reproductive females were significantly increased, but the pupation rate, weight of pupae, and life cycle rate were significantly decreased. In F1 , the duration of F1 larvae and the doubling time was prolonged, whereas the rates of pupation and the life cycle were decreased by 14.92% and 18.00%, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase and net reproductive rate of sublethal group were lower than the control group. The relative fitness of F1 treated by LD10 and LD30 was 0.81 and 0.66, respectively. Conslusion Broflanilide not only has highly lethal activity, but also suppresses the population growth and the progeny of CCW, which is a critical factor for guideline of its usage in the field. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.