Evaluation of etoxazole against insects and acari in vegetables in China

Etoxazole, 2-(2,6-difluorophenyl-4-[4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2-ethoxy-phenyl]-4,5-dihydrooxazole, an organofluorine chitin synthesis inhibitor, was assayed for its bioactivities against several major insect and acarus pests and compared to several other pesticides: two chitin synthesis inhibitors, hexaflumuron and chlorfluazuron; a pyrethroid, permethrin; an organophosphate, acephate; a carboximide, hexythiazox; and a tetrazine, clofentezine. The LC50 of etoxazole was calculated using probit analysis of the concentration-dependent mortality data against susceptible and resistant strains of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae); diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Plutellidae); bean aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae); and carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) Boudreaux (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae). The resistant strains were found to be resistant against all tested pesticides except etoxazole. The bioactivity of etoxazole was many times that of the other tested insecticides and acaricides widely used in vegetable crops in China. On the basis of our research, etoxazole can be expected to be extensively used on vegetable crops in China.