**Spirotetramat — An Alternative for the Control of Parasitic Sucking Insects and its Fate in the Environment**

Norma-Julieta Salazar-López, María-Lourdes Aldana-Madrid, María-Isabel Silveira-Gramont and José-Luis Aguiar

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/61322

#### **Abstract**

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40 Insecticides Resistance

112-114.

Spirotetramat is an insecticide derived from tetramic acid, a systemic material, for the control of sucking insects in their juvenile, immature stages, including aphids, scale insects, and whitefly. It produces growth inhibition of younger insects, re‐ duces the ability of insects to reproduce, resulting in mortality. It acts to inhibit the biosynthesis of lipids and represents a new alternative for the control of problemat‐ ic insects such as *Planococcus ficus* and *Aphis gossypii*. After a foliar application of spirotetramat, it enters the plant and transforms to its metabolite enol, along with the metabolite ketohydroxy, which are the two main products of degradation.

Studies on the 90% degradation (DT90) in the soil under field conditions demon‐ strates the velocity of dissipation of spirotetramat and its main metabolites, BYI08330-enol and BYI08330-ketohydroxi, was from 1.1 to 3.5 days and from 16.7 to 77.8 days, respectively. Given these results, ground water contamination by spirote‐ tramat is not very probable, and there is no evidence of accumulation in the soil or in the air. Spirotetramat has been used by itself for the control of aphids in grape‐ vine, and combined with imidacloprid in walnut; a reduction in the control efficien‐ cy of spirotetramat alone, possibly due to a change in the aphid population genetic makeup of the population, which resulted in a higher tolerance to the control dose was observed. However, when combined, it was possible to achieve up to 90% con‐ trol 5 days after application. For this reason, it is important to establish a permanent sampling program for insects, and to apply insecticides only when the insects reach the action threshold; to prevent resistance building up, it is recommended to use materials with different modes of action, insecticide rotation, or alternative com‐ pounds.

**Keywords:** Spirotetramat, systemic, sucking pests, tetramic acid, degradation

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