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Cyantraniliprole is the second xylem-systemic active ingredient in the new anthranilic diamide class. Greenhouse (2006), growth chamber (2007), and field studies (2009-2010) were conducted to determine the efficacy of cyantraniliprole for managing Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B and in interfering with transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) by this whitefly. Cyantraniliprole applied as soil treatments (200 SC) or foliar sprays (100 OD) provided excellent adult whitefly control, TYLCV suppression, and reduced oviposition and nymph survival, comparable to current standards. The positive results observed in these greenhouse experiments with a high level of insect pressure (10× the field threshold of one adult per plant) and disease pressure (five adults per plant, with a high level of confidence that TYLCV virulent adults were used), indicate a great potential for cyantraniliprole to be used in a whitefly management program. Field evaluations of soil drench treatments confirmed the suppression of TYLCV transmission demonstrated in the greenhouse studies. Field studies in 2009 and 2010 showed that cyantraniliprole (200 SC) provided TYLCV suppression for 2 wk after a drench application, when using a susceptible (2009) or imidacloprid-tolerant (2010) whitefly population. Cyantraniliprole was demonstrated to be a promising tool for management of TYLCV in tomato production, which is very difficult and expensive, and which has limited options. The integration of cyantraniliprole into a resistance management program will help to ensure the continued sustainability of this and current insecticides used for the management of insect vectors, including whiteflies and the TYLCV they spreads., (© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Cyantraniliprole is a novel insecticide for control of multiple chewing and sucking insect pest species including the sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), which is one of the most important polyphagous pests in tropical, subtropical, and Mediterranean regions. This study aims to evaluate the effects of cyantraniliprole on the probing behavior of B. tabaci on tomato. Electrical penetration graph data indicated that on plants treated with cyantraniliprole (foliar application), adult whiteflies of the genetic variant Q2 were not able to reach the phloem and consequently did not perform the activities represented by E1 and E2 waveforms, i.e., phloem salivation (during which inoculation of geminiviruses occurs) and phloem sap ingestion (during which geminiviruses are acquired by the whiteflies), respectively. The complete failure of B. tabaci biotype Q adults to feed from the phloem of tomato plants treated with cyantraniliprole could be explained by rapid cessation of ingestion because of the mode of action of this insecticide. Overall, these findings indicated that cyantraniliprole might represent a useful new tool for producers to protect tomato plants from damage by B. tabaci.

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is an economically important pest in the United States and other countries. Growers in many places rely on the use of insecticides to reduce populations of B. tabaci. However, insecticides may take a few days to cause B. tabaci mortality and some do not reduce feeding before death. Earlier reduction of feeding of whiteflies would decrease the physiological effects on plants, reduce the production of sooty mold and potentially reduce the transmission of viruses. Measuring the reduction in feeding after the exposure of B. tabaci to an insecticide has proven difficult. This series of laboratory experiments demonstrate the usefulness of fluorescence in determining B. tabaci feeding cessation. Fluorescein sodium salt is systemically transported in the xylem from the roots to the plant leaves and absorbed by B. tabaci nymphs feeding on these plants. Nymphs start fluorescing shortly after the cotton plant root system is submerged in the fluorescein sodium salt. Using this novel technique, the effect of three insecticides with different modes of action, cyantraniliprole, imidacloprid, and spirotetramat on B. tabaci was evaluated and compared to determine reduction in feeding. Results indicate that B. tabaci nymphs feeding on a plant treated with Benevia have a significant reduction of feeding when compared with nymphs feeding on plants treated with imidacloprid or spirotetramat. Both Benevia and spirotetramat caused significant nymphal mortality by 48 h after exposure. This novel technique will be useful to demonstrate the feeding cessation or reduction in feeding produced by different insecticides in several sucking insect groups.