Acaricidal activity and stability of milbemycins used in turpentine
To verify synergistic activity and stability of milbemycin in turpentine,turpentine oil and ethanol with a solvent mixture of milbemycin were measured.Virulence was tested on the carmine spider mite (Tetranychus cinnabarinus) using a leaf disc spray.A photolysis experiment was conducted to determine the stability of milbemycin,and a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrography (GC-MS) analysis was performed.Results showed that toxicities of different milbemycin oil in lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values on female adult mites were 0.031 4 and 0.139 0 mg·L-1 with a poison coefficient of 442.68 reflecting a strong synergistic activity.The photolysis experiment showed that turpentine oil as a solvent could improve the stability of milbemycins.The GC-MS analysis revealed that the content of alpha-pinene,camphene,R-limonene and 3-carene was over 60%.Since the main reason for synergistic activity was favorable osmosis of terpene chemicals entering the insect cuticle,turpentine could be used as a solvent and synergistic agent for processing milbemycin green oil preparations.