Dose–Response Relationships of Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, and Thiamethoxam to Blissus occiduus (Hemiptera: Blissidae)

Authors

M. D. Stamm, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Frederick P. Baxendale, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Tiffany Heng-Moss, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Blair D. Siegfried, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Erin E. Blankenship, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Roch E. Gaussoin, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2011

Comments

J. Econ. Entomol. 104(1): 205Ð210 (2011); DOI: 10.1603/EC10268 Copyright 2011 Entomological Society of America. Used by permission.

Abstract

The western chinch bug, Blissus occiduus Barber (Hemiptera: Blissidae), has emerged as a serious pest of buffalograss, Buchloë dactyloides (Nuttall) Engelmann. In general, neonicotinoid insecticides effectively control a variety of turfgrass insects, particularly phloem-feeding pests. However, because of well documented inconsistencies in control, these compounds are generally not recommended for chinch bugs. This study was designed to document the contact and systemic toxicity of three neonicotinoid insecticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam) to B. occiduus. In contact bioassays, thiamethoxam was ~20-fold less toxic than clothianidin or imidacloprid to B. occiduus nymphs and three-fold more toxic to adults. In adult systemic bioassays, thiamethoxam was up to five-fold more toxic than clothianidin or imidacloprid. Interestingly, thiamethoxam was significantly more toxic to adults than to nymphs in both contact and systemic bioassays. This was not observed with clothianidin or imidacloprid. Bifenthrin, used for comparative purposes, exhibited 1,844-fold and 122-fold increase in toxicity to nymphs and adults, respectively. These results provide the first documentation of the relative toxicity of these neonicotinoid insecticides to B. occiduus.