Data from: Plant essential oils synergize and antagonize toxicity of different conventional insecticides against Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Plant-derived products can play an important role in pest management programs. Essential oils from Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) and Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and their main constituents, linalool and thymol, respectively, were evaluated for insecticidal activity and synergistic action in combination with insecticides against green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The essential oils and their main constituents exerted similar insecticidal activity when aphids were exposed by direct sprays, but were non-toxic by exposure to treated leaf discs. In synergism experiments, the toxicity of imidacloprid was synergized 16- to 20-fold by L. angustifolia and T. vulgaris essential oils, but far less synergism occurred with linalool and thymol, indicating that secondary constituents of the oils were probably responsible for the observed synergism. In contrast to results with imidacloprid, the insecticidal activity of spirotetramat was antagonized by L. angustifolia and T. vulgaris essential oils, and linalool and thymol. Our results demonstrate the potential of plant essential oils as synergists of insecticides, but show that antagonistic action against certain insecticides may occur.

植物源产品在害虫综合治理方案中可发挥重要作用。本研究针对桃蚜（Myzus persicae (Sulzer)，半翅目：蚜科），评估了狭叶薰衣草（Lavandula angustifolia）与百里香（Thymus vulgaris）的精油及其各自主要成分芳樟醇（linalool）和百里香酚（thymol）与杀虫剂复配时的杀虫活性与协同作用。当蚜虫经直接喷雾暴露时，上述精油及其主要成分表现出相似的杀虫活性，但通过接触经药剂处理的叶碟测试时则无毒性。在协同作用实验中，狭叶薰衣草与百里香精油可将吡虫啉（imidacloprid）的毒力提升16至20倍，但芳樟醇与百里香酚的协同增效作用则弱得多，这表明精油中的次要成分可能是观测到的协同增效作用的来源。与吡虫啉的实验结果相反，狭叶薰衣草、百里香精油以及芳樟醇、百里香酚均会拮抗螺虫乙酯（spirotetramat）的杀虫活性。本研究结果证实了植物精油作为杀虫剂协同助剂的应用潜力，但同时也表明其可能对部分杀虫剂产生拮抗作用。