Effect of Abamectin on Fungal Growth and its Efficacy as a Miticide in the Laboratory

Abamectin was tested for use with solid agar media in the laboratory to eliminate or kill the common mold mite Tyrophagus spp. in fungal cultures of Phaeomoniella chlamydospora (Pch) and Phaeoacremonium minimum (Pmin), two important grape pathogens involved in grapevine trunk disease. Abamectin concentrations tested were at or below the recommended dose for abamectin in greenhouse spray applications (≦625ug/mL) to control mites and determine if: a) fungal growth would be inhibited, and b) mites would be killed or their activity suppressed. Abamectin was added either to the media before autoclaving, or filter-sterilized and added after autoclaving, to test the effects of autoclaving on abamectin efficacy. Streptomycin (100µg/mL) was also added to a set of treatments to determine if this commonly-used antibiotic would impact abamectin efficacy against mites, or have an effect on fungal growth when in combination with abamectin. Filter-sterilized abamectin in the range of 62.5 - 312ug/mL, delivered to the media after it had been autoclaved, provided the most effective control of mites while also showing limited inhibition of fungal growth on solid agar media in the absence of streptomycin. The addition of filter-sterilized streptomycin had no significant effect on fungal growth for Pch, while for Pmin a small but significant reduction in growth with streptomycin occurred at abamectin concentrations above 62.5 ug/ml.

Comparison of Methyl Bromide and Phosphine for Fumigation of Necrobia rufipes (Coleoptera: Cleridae) and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Sarcoptiformes: Acaridae), Pests of High-Value Stored Products

Fumigation with methyl bromide has been a long established and effective method for controlling many pests of stored products, including the key major pests that infest dry-cured hams, aged cheese, and other value-added durable stored products. Methyl bromide had been widely used for the disinfestation of dry-cured ham facilities in the United States, but is now phased out of use since it is an ozone-depleting substance. This paper reports laboratory studies to evaluate the efficacies of methyl bromide and phosphine for controlling two of the key arthropod pests of dry-cured hams and aged cheeses. Larvae of the red-legged ham beetle, Necrobia rufipes (Fabricius), were the most tolerant life stages when treated with either phosphine or methyl bromide for 48 h exposure at 23°C, whereas eggs of the mold mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), were slightly more tolerant than mobile stages for both compounds. Under laboratory conditions, complete control was achieved for the both species with concentrations of 0.85 and 4.0 g/m3 of phosphine and methyl bromide, respectively, at 48 h exposure. The results give new information for judicious use of the existing stocks of methyl bromide, whether for pest mitigation or to help in developing a quarantine treatment schedule with that gas. Phosphine shows good potential as an effective alternative to methyl bromide, but if it was to be adopted as a fumigant in the dry-cured ham industry, methods to prevent metal corrosion would need to be designed and effectively implemented.