Abstract
The onion maggot, Delia antiqua, is a devastating pest of liliaceous crops and current control measures fail to avert pesticide residues, threats to agroecosystem, and costly expenditures. Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are used as trypetid pest chemosterilants for their suppression on adult fertility and fecundity, but their effects on onion flies are unknown. Here, three IGRs (lufenuron, cyromazine, pyriproxyfen) were incorporated into baits to evaluate their effects on onion fly survival, fecundity, fertility, susceptibility of adults in different ages and offspring development. Lufenuron and cyromazine did not affect survival of new-emerged adults, but lufenuron inhibited adult fertility without affecting fecundity, and cyromazine reduced fertility and fecundity. Differently, pyriproxyfen enhanced fecundity within 10 days after treatment, while it reduced adult survival without affecting fertility. The fertility of younger adults was affected by lufenuron and cyromazine whereas the fecundity was affected with cyromazine and pyriproxyfen. For offspring of onion flies treated with lufenuron or cyromazine, most of larvae died within 5 days after hatch, but surviving larvae pupated and emerged normally. Pyriproxyfen did not affect offspring larval survival or pupation but affected pupal emergence. Thus, lufenuron and cyromazine could be potential chemosterilants for onion flies.