title: Evaluation of calcium-alginate gel as an artificial diet medium for bioassays on common cutworms.
abstract: A calcium-alginate gel diet was developed for Spodoptera litura larvae, and its reliability as a carrier for incorporating antifeedants as well as insecticides was investigated. The alginate gel diet was prepared with a simple protocol, which does not involve any heating process. When tested using this diet, acephate, a Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxin formulation and rotenone reproducibly showed insecticidal activity against the larvae, while neem oil and scabequinone deterred the larval feeding effectively. However, not only the insecticidal activity of acephate but also the antifeedant activity of neem oil was reduced by replacing the alginate component by agar in the diet, suggesting the usefulness of the alginate gel diet as an assay tool for testing a broad range of samples against the larvae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Kinki University, 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara 631-8505, Japan. morimoto@nara.kindai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komai
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D004032:Diet; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D007306:Insecticides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D007306:Insecticides; D020723:Glucuronic Acid