Combined effects of tomato cultivars and ingested insecticides on digestive α-amylase activity and biological parameters of Helicoverpa armigera

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Naimeh Hosseini 1
Reza Farshbaf Pour Abad 2
Seyed Abolghasem Mohammadi 3
Shabnam Ashouri 4
1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
2 1. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran. 2. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ege University, 35100 Izmir, Turkey.
3 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
4 Department of Plant Protection, Nuclear Agriculture Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera; Noctuidae) is a polyphagous plant pest which causes great damage to tomato crops worldwide. This study evaluated the combined effects of four tomato cultivars (Monalisa, Super-Chef, King-Star, and Falat-111) and four gut-acting insecticides (spinosad, chlorantraniliprole, indoxacarb, and lufenuron), on digestive α-amylase activity and selected biological parameters of H. armigera. Larvae from the third to sixth instars were fed leaf discs treated with LC₃₀ concentrations of each insecticide, and α-amylase activity, larval mortality, larval developmental period, final-instar weight, and adult fecundity were assessed. Notably, the highest inhibition of larval digestive α-amylase activity (75.02%) was recorded in the Super-Chef×chlorantraniliprole combination at the 3rd instar, whereas the lowest (19.38%) was observed in the Monalisa×lufenuron treatment at the 6th instar. Similarly, the combination of the Super-Chef cultivar with chlorantraniliprole and spinosad exhibited the strongest effects on the biological traits. In the Super-Chef×spinosad treatment, final larval weight was reduced to 98.37 mg compared with 341.77 mg in the Monalisa×control, while adult fecundity declined from 426.33 to 84.67 eggs in the Super-Chef × chlorantraniliprole treatment. The larval developmental period was extended to 29.12 days in Super-Chef×spinosad, while the shortest duration was observed in Monalisa×control. The highest level of larval mortality was recorded in Super-Chef×chlorantraniliprole, whereas the lowest was observed in Monalisa×lufenuron. Overall, the combination of the Super-Chef cultivar with chlorantraniliprole or spinosad provided the strongest suppression of H. armigera, indicating that integrating resistant tomato cultivars with effective insecticides can enhance pest control and support sustainable integrated pest management programs.
Keywords
Cotton bollworm
Enzyme inhibition
Gut-acting insecticides
Host plant resistance
Subjects
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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology

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Available Online from 22 June 2026