Toxicity, persistence, and efficacy of indoxacarb on cabbage looper (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on cabbage

Toxicity of indoxacarb was bioassayed against eggs and young (first and second instars) and older larvae (third and fourth instars) of cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner), on cabbage (Brassicae oleracea variety capitata L.), and persistence of field-aged leaf residues of indoxacarb was bioassayed with second and third instars of T. ni on cabbage. Efficacies of indoxacarb and several other newer insecticides to T. ni were tested under field conditions for two seasons in south Texas. LC50 and LC90 values for T. ni eggs were relatively high, indicating that indoxacarb has little ovicidal effects on T. ni eggs. Indoxacarb was highly toxic to T. ni larvae, having low LC50 and LC90 values. Bioassays of field-aged leaf residues of indoxacarb tested in the spring of 1998 (0-, 3-, 5-, and 12-d-old residues) and the fall of 2000 (0-, 3-, 5-, 7-, 9-, and 13-d-old residues) indicated that ingesting indoxacarb was highly toxic to the second and third instars of T. ni, giving 100% mortality for the second instars at 2 d after exposure, and 100% mortality for third instars at 5 d after exposure. Two trials conducted under field conditions show that indoxacarb at 0.072 g (AI) /ha rate was effective against T. ni in cabbage, providing marketable cabbage with three applications per season. In addition, indoxacarb was as effective as spinosad and chlorfenapyr and significantly more effective than tebufenozide and emamectin benzoate.