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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #413354
Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Assessing the Efficacy of Sodium Alginate and Polyacrylamide as Spray Adjuvants Combined with Bifenthrin and Imidacloprid against Lygus lineolaris and Piezodorus guildinii

Author
item Du, Yuzhe - Cathy
item Scheibener, Shane
item George, Justin
item Kannan, Narayanan
item Portilla, Maribel

Submitted to: Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2024
Publication Date: 3/28/2024
Citation: Du, Y., Scheibener, S.A., George, J., Kannan, N., Portilla, M. 2024. Assessing the Efficacy of Sodium Alginate and Polyacrylamide as Spray Adjuvants Combined with Bifenthrin and Imidacloprid against Lygus lineolaris and Piezodorus guildinii. Agriculture. 14(4):535. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14040535.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14040535

Interpretive Summary: The tarnished plant bug and red banded stink bug are causing major problems for cotton and soybean crops in the mid-southern United States. To combat them, farmers often use insecticides, but this has led to bugs becoming resistant, and the insecticides themselves can harm the environment. This study looked at two additives, sodium alginate (SA) and polyacrylamide (PAM), to see if they could make the insecticides work better. The results indicated that field-used insecticides didn't improve the performance of the two additives. However, when the pure insecticides were combined with SA or PAM, they made stronger versions of the insecticides that worked better against the bugs.This research gives us a new way to kill these insect pests and protect our crops effectively.

Technical Abstract: The tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae), and red banded stink bug Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) pose significant economic threats to cotton and soybean crops in the mid-southern United States. The extensive widespread application of insecticides to control them has led to the development of insecticide resistance. Moreover, the efficacy of insecticide spray is comparatively low, contributing to excessive application and environmental pollution. While adjuvants play a crucial role in optimizing insecticide performance. This study evaluated the impact of two polymer adjuvants, sodium alginate (SA)and polyacrylamide (PAM),on enhancing the efficacy of bifenthrin and imidacloprid activity in laboratory spray bioassays. Both SA and PAM demonstrated insignificant variation in LC50 values and failed to improve the effectiveness of formulated bifenthrin or imidacloprid in killing P. guildinii and L. lineolaris effectively. However, SA and PAM exhibited different synergistic effects with two technical-grade insecticides in both insect species. High concentrations of PAM increased the efficacy of technical grade bifenthrin by 1.50- and 1.70-fold for L.lineolaris and P. guildinii, respectively. Conversely, no enhancement effect was observed for the SA- technical grade bifenthrin combination in both insect pests. Additionally, both SA and PAM enhanced the effectiveness of technical grade imidacloprid applications in P.guildinii up to 2.68- and 2.73-fold, respectively. While a high concentration of PAM also displayed a low synergistic effect (1.45-fold)on the technical grade imidacloprid,no enhancement effect was observed for the SA/ imidacloprid combination in L.lineolaris.This study explored the synergistic impact of SA and PAM on the efficacy of technical grades. It formulated bifenthrin and imidacloprid, providing valuable insights into optimizing pest control strategies in agriculture.