Using Wood Vinegar as a Natural Pesticide for Reducing Greenhouse Gases to Mitigate Climatic Change Effect Compared with That of Indoxacarb Against the Peach Fruit Fly, Bactrocera zonata

Abstract

The current study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of wood vinegar, a natural pesticide made from rice husk, and indoxacarb against the peach fruit fly’s third larval instars, one-day-old and seven-day-old pupae. The tested compounds showed toxicity against different developmental stages of the peach fruit fly. Adult flies that emerged from (i) pre-pupae in sand treated with sub-lethal concentrations (LC50=0.36 ppm, 0.87 % ppm of indoxacarb, and wood vinegar, respectively), (ii) from treating 1-day-old pupae in sand with sub-lethal concentrations (LC50 0.44 ppm, 0.98 % of indoxacarb and wood vinegar, respectively), and (iii) from 7-day-old pupae in sand treated with sub-lethal concentrations (LC50 2.86 ppm, 1.25 % of indoxacarb and wood vinegar, respectively), were assessed by the comet test for detecting broken DNA strands in individual eukaryotic cells. Results obtained showed that insects treated with indoxacarb and wood vinegar had significantly increased tail length (TL), tail moment, DNA tail %, and over all DNA damage values expressed in the body cells, compared to the untreated control.

Keywords:

Bactrocera zonata, comet assay, indoxacarb, wood vinegar, greenhouse gas, climate change