Selection, egg viability, and fecundity of the sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) with tebufenozide.

Two separate attempts to select the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), for resistance to tebufenozide were unsuccessful. Both selected colonies were lost after the fourth generation due to a lack of oviposition. Differences were not detected in fecundity or percent egg viability for 5-d-old third instars exposed to concentrations (EC5, EC15, and EC30) of tebufenozide for 7 d. Decreases (P < or = 0.01) in mean female pupal weights were detected in larvae exposed to EC15 and EC30 concentrations. An ovicidal impact using serial dilutions of tebufenozide (10, 100, and 200 ppm) also was detected. Percent viability was reduced from 98% for untreated eggs to 61% for eggs dipped in 10 ppm and below 6% for eggs dipped in > or = 100 ppm. Eggs treated with 200 ppm did not hatch. Though some embryonic development was observed on eggs treated with the high concentrations (100 and 200 ppm), sclerotization of head capsule was not apparent. The ovicidal property of tebufenozide may enhance its effectiveness in controlling populations of the D. saccharalis on an area-wide basis. Fecundity and egg viability were affected in later generations of selection; however, separate studies assessing individuals that were exposed to sublethal concentration (EC5, EC15, and EC30) of tebufenozide as third instars for 7 d in one generation did not detect differences.