Toxicity of ddt and malathion to various larval stages of Mamestra brassicae L.

Abstract The toxicity of DDT and malathion to the larvae of Mamestra brassicae was determined following several methods of application. The toxicity (LD50), expressed as μg insecticide per g of insect, did not change significantly between larval instars (a) when either insecticide was injected into fourth to sixth instars; (b) when DDT was applied in the food of fifth and sixth instars; or (c) when malathion was applied topically to second to sixth instars. Significant changes in toxicity were found between successive instars when DDT was applied topically, but there was no clear trend. When malathion was applied in the food, the fifth instars were more susceptible than the sixth instars; it was found that the former consumed a toxic dose of malathion at a greater rate, and that probably malathion was degraded in the gut at a slower rate. In a contact test, the first to third instars were far more susceptible than the later instars to malathion; with DDT this trend was much less marked. Uptake studies with [14C]malathion showed that differences in the contact toxicity of malathion between instars could be explained, at least partly, by the decline in uptake per unit weight with increasing larval size.