Laboratory evaluation of sugar alcohols for control of mosquitoes and other medically important flies

Abstract

Insecticide application for vector control is the most controversial component of a public health program due to concerns about environmental and human health safety. One approach to overcome this challenge is the use of environmentally benign active ingredients. Among the most promising emerging strategies are attractive toxic sugar baits. Sugar alcohols—naturally occurring molecules safe for human consumption but potentially toxic to insects when ingested, have received increased attention for use with this approach. For this study, we screened the toxicity of four different sugar alcohols on several mosquito species, a biting midge, and a filth fly. Sugar alcohol mortalities exceeded those in the sucrose (positive control) only group. However, only erythritol and highly concentrated xylitol induced mortalities exceeding those in the water only (negative control) treatment ranging from approximately 40–75%. Formulations containing erythritol and xylitol should be further investigated under field conditions for efficacy in reducing populations of biting flies and for assessing potential non-target impacts.

Enhancing toxic sugar meals against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) by adulterating with erythritol in combination with other active ingredients

“…Erythritol shows the potential to kill mosquitoes faster and more efficiently than sucrose or fruit sugar bases, regardless of the pesticide present in the bait formulation, working essentially as a toxin and sugar base at the same time (Rochlin et al 2022, Gilkey et al 2018 and Price et al 2022). But it is unclear at this time what is the nutritive benefit of erythritol.…”

“…To that end, a foundational study was conducted analyzing various sugars and their standalone effectiveness as toxicants (Airs et al 2019), to which lactose was toxic and arabinose seemed both phagostimulant and toxic. A similar study was framed around sugar alcohols in concentrations up to 30% (Rochlin et al 2022). Erythritol also presented as a potential toxicant as well, albeit requiring up to 30% to cause mortality above 60–80% (Rochlin et al 2022), but it was unclear if any phagostimulant effect was present.…”

“…A similar study was framed around sugar alcohols in concentrations up to 30% (Rochlin et al 2022). Erythritol also presented as a potential toxicant as well, albeit requiring up to 30% to cause mortality above 60–80% (Rochlin et al 2022), but it was unclear if any phagostimulant effect was present. Furthermore, as low as 5% erythritol was observed to have enhanced mortality when partnered with, rather than totally substituting out, the sucrose (Gilkey et al 2018).…”

Diols and sugar substitutes in attractive toxic sugar baits targetingAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus(Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes

“…2021, Baudier et al . 2014, Rochlin et al . 2022); however, few artificial sweeteners have been studied for their toxicity to mosquitoes.…”

“…Each of the diols tested in this new study has commercial uses, such as in paints, personal care, hygiene products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals (Werle et al 2008, Dionisio et al 2018, Ren et al 2018. Recent work demonstrates that certain sugar substitutes may be toxic to arthropods (Caponera et al 2020, Osabutey et al 2021, Lee et al 2021, Baudier et al 2014, Rochlin et al 2022; however, few artificial sweeteners have been studied for their toxicity to mosquitoes. Moreover, testing the non-nutritive sugar substitutes in combination with sucrose is critical to distinguishing between toxicity as a cause of death as opposed to starvation (Foster 1995, Barredo and DeGennaro 2020, Sharma et al 2020.…”