Toxicity of insecticides to tsetse flies.

New insecticides have been evaluated for toxicity to tsetse flies and compared with organochlorine compounds currently in use. The most toxic compounds and their estimated median lethal doses in nanograms per fly by topical application in solution to teneral Glossina austeni were: resmethrin 4, fenthion 8, dieldrin 10, propoxur 12, chlorfenvinphos 12, tetrachlorvinphos 20, and dichlorvos 20. There was little variation in the susceptibility of teneral male and female flies, young fed flies, and fed stud males with all the compounds tested (dieldrin, resmethrin, tetrachlorvinphos, bromophos, and propoxur) and increased tolerance in old fed pregnant flies occurred only with dieldrin and resmethrin. There was also little variation in the susceptibility of teneral flies of the two species G. austeni and G. morsitans. In contact toxicity tests with water dispersible powder deposits on plywood, propoxur was highly active initially but lost its effectiveness after only a few weeks, whereas tetrachlorvinphos was less active initially but more persistent.

Some factors affecting the distribution and rate of action of insecticides.

The amount of insecticide that reaches a critical site of action within an insect is affected by a number of physical and chemical processes both within and outside the insect. This paper reviews some of these processes, with particular attention to those external to the insect, whose action commences at the moment an insecticide is released into the environment. On the basis of research that has been conducted on such processes, conclusions are drawn as to the properties that are desirable, from the point of view of insecticidal efficiency, in new compounds.

Evaluation of compounds for insecticidal activity on adult mosquitos. 1. Responses of adult mosquitos to some new insecticides.

Responses shown by female mosquitos to topical applications of solutions, to deposits from water-dispersible-powder formulations, or to exposure to the vapour from such deposits, are described for a number of compounds that have shown promise as residual contact insecticides.The behaviour of Anopheles stephensi females in laboratory tests indicates that departures of mosquitos from treated buildings, and their survival rates, are likely to be increased as a result of irritation and consequent activity after only a brief period of contact with phthalthrin (OMS-1011) and other synthetic pyrethroids but not with dieldrin (OMS-18) and lindane (OMS-17) or the carbamates and organophosphorus compounds tested. Mosquitos were not disturbed by exposure to the vapour from deposits of any of the compounds.The rates of action of the different compounds following their application in solution directly to the insect cuticle or contact of the mosquitos with deposits on plywood and plaster emphasize the importance of the lipid-solubility and partitioning properties of an insecticide in determining its passage from a surface deposit into, and through, the cuticle to the site of action.

Evaluation of compounds for insecticidal activity on adult mosquitos. 2. Toxicity to adult mosquitos and the physical properties of some new carbamates.

The N,N-dimethylcarbamates are much less toxic and much more volatile than the corresponding N-methylcarbamates. N-acylation of N-methylcarbamates is also generally accompanied by a loss in intrinsic toxicity to adult mosquitos by topical application, but the reduction in toxicity may be relatively small and in some N-acetyl derivatives may not occur at all. N-acylation is also accompanied by changes in physical properties such as lipid solubility and partition coefficient, which influence contact toxicity, and volatility, which affects residual activity. In the series of compounds examined, contact toxicity is maximal in the N-acetyl derivatives but their volatility is often so high that they lack the persistence required of residual insecticides. This does not apply, however, to the N-acetyl derivatives of OMS-597 and OMS-708 because the volatility of the parent compound is so low that some degree of persistence can be sacrificed to obtain some improvement in contact activity.OMS-1064 is the only N-chloroacetyl derivative tested so far that shows promise as a residual insecticide.

Evaluation of compounds for insecticidal activity on adult mosquitos. 3. Properties of some N-methylthiolcarbamates.

N-methylcarbamates derived from thiophenols possess negligible insecticidal activity against the mosquitos Anopheles stephensi and Aedes aegypti. The probable basic reason for the inactivity is that these compounds are much less efficient inhibitors of cholinesterase than the oxygen analogues.

Evaluation of compounds for insecticidal activity on adult mosquitos. 4. Insecticidal activity and physical properties of some halogenated organophosphorus esters.

The effects of changes in structure upon toxicity to adult mosquitos and upon physical properties which are important in determining contact effectiveness and residual activity are described for a group of O,O-dialkyl O-halogenated-phenyl phosphates, phosphorothionates and phosphamido(thio)ates. This group includes such established insecticides as fenchlorphos, bromophos and iodofenphos.

Evaluation of compounds for insecticidal activity on adult mosquitos. 5. Toxicity to adult mosquitos and residual properties of some pyrethroids.

New pyrethrin-like compounds are compared with earlier synthetic pyrethroids and natural pyrethrins for intrinsic toxicity to adult mosquitos and for residual contact activity. Two of the compounds are at least as toxic as pyrethrin I to female Anopheles stephensi and Aedes aegypti. Residues of these compounds are very persistent in the dark or in very subdued lighting but they decompose on exposure to normal intensities of daylight and rapidly lose their insecticidal activity.