Phloxine B effect on immature stages of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Wiedemann).
A laboratory bioassay was developed to determine both the chemical toxicity and the phototoxicity of the xanthene dye, phloxine B (D&C Red No 28), to the immature stages of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Certitis capitata (Wiedemann). An additional goal was to find out which main tissues are affected first. A low, but significant, level of toxicity was observed when the insects were maintained in the dark: at the point of adult ecdysis, the LC50 was 11.03 mM. As expected, after 8-h exposure of late larva III to light, a high level of mortality was produced (LC50 at ecdysis: 0.45 mM) as a dose-dependent function of dye concentration. At sublethal concentrations of the dye, the surviving insects showed a number of physiological abnormalities. Phloxine B appeared to mainly affect the larval longitudinal muscles as well as the abdominal muscles of ecdysing adults, giving rise to abnormal puparia and failed adult ecdysis, respectively. Moreover, a significant phloxine B-dependent delay in the jumping of surviving larvae for dispersal was documented. This could be attributed to a delay in attaining a threshold weight for jumping and/or to abnormalities in neuromuscular coordination, thus reinforcing the idea of pleiotropic effects of the dye.
Berni
Jimena
J
Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas-Fundación Campomar, CONICET and FCEyN University of Buenos Aires, Patricias Argentinas 435 (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Rabossi
Alejandro
A
Quesada-Allué
Luis A
LA
D000818:Animals; D033622:Ceratitis capitata / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D003624:Darkness; D010697:Eosine I Bluish / Q000633:toxicity*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000187:drug effects*; D008027:Light; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects
D010697:Eosine I Bluish