A Review of Spinosad as a Natural Product for Larval Mosquito Control

Abstract

The effectiveness of spinosad for larval mosquito control is summarized based on available published literature and some heretofore unpublished studies. Spinosad is highly active against larvae of all mosquito species tested thus far. It is effective at similar dosages for all larval mosquito instars, with peak cumulative mortality occurring at 72 h posttreatment. More studies are needed to fully define spinosad's ovicidal properties and its impact on the pupal stage. High levels of organic matter and full sunlight are both factors that can negatively impact spinosad efficacy and longevity and should be considered when making use rate and retreatment decisions. Studies clearly show that spinosad technical active ingredient and current crop formulations are suboptimal for larval mosquito control and underrepresent spinosad's true activity. A series of spinosad formulations specialized for larval mosquito control will be sold commercially. Prior to its launch and widespread use, there is a need for additional baseline studies to clarify the natural geographic variation in susceptibility of field mosquito populations. Spinosad represents a new and effective natural product for the integrated management of larval mosquitoes. It possesses a unique mode of action not shared by any other insecticide and is shown to be minimally disruptive to most nontarget species tested thus far at its proposed field use rates.

Spinosad: a biorational mosquito larvicide for use in car tires in southern Mexico

“…Analysis of published studies on laboratory-based concentration-mortality metrics suggested no systematic differences in susceptibility to spinosad according to genus [25]. According to this analysis Cx.…”

Survival and swimming behavior of insecticide-exposed larvae and pupae of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

“…Deltamethrin and spinosad were particularly potent impairing juvenile swimming as indicated by the steep slopes and low concentrations of these insecticides compromising the swimming activity of mosquito larvae and pupae. Impairment of swimming is expected for neurotoxic insecticides [8,26,34,35]. Several studies recorded increased swimming activity, which led to a higher risk of predation in response to insecticide exposure [22,23].…”

“…Several studies recorded increased swimming activity, which led to a higher risk of predation in response to insecticide exposure [22,23]. In these studies, the swimming activity was assessed after a short exposure time to detect an initial hyper-excitability associated with sodium-channel modulators (such as pyrethroids) and agonists and modulators of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (imidacloprid and spinosad, respectively) [26,36-38]. In our study, swimming behavior was recorded after a longer time of exposure, and the inhibitory effects caused by the neurotoxic insecticides tested prevailed, with the sole exception of imidacloprid-exposed pupae (where insecticide exposure favored higher swimming activity).…”

Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and spinosad on adult emergence of the non-biting midges Polypedilum nubifer (Skuse) and Tanytarsus curticornis Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) in coastal wetlands

“…israelensis (Bti), which is wellknown for its selectivity for nematoceran Diptera (Boisvert and Lacoursière, 2004), is widely used for mosquito control (Despreś et al, 2011). Spinosad, a mixture of spinosyns A and D known as Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoenv fermentation products of a soil actinomycete (Saccharopolyspora spinosa; (Crouse et al, 2001), is a biological neurotoxic insecticide that was approved and registered by the USEPA as a larvicide for mosquito control in October 2007 (Hertlein et al, 2010). Spinosad has been evaluated and accepted for listing by the WHOPES working group, the official WHO body in charge of the assessment of pesticides for their effectiveness and safety (WHO, 2007).…”