Nanotechnology is a new field in the pesticide industry. Nanopesticides represent an emerging technological tool that offers a range of benefits including increased efficacy, durability, and reduction in the amounts of used active ingredients. However, due to the lack of studies on the toxicity and the sublethal effects on pests and natural enemies, the extent of action and fate of these nanopesticdes is still not fully understood limitting thus their wide use. In this study, we encapsulated the pirimicarb insecticide using nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and investigated the toxicity and sublethal effects (LC25) of the resulting nanocapsules against the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and its natural enemy the green lacewings Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Nanoencapsulation of pirimicarb enhanced 12.6-fold its toxicity to cabbage aphids compared to its commercial formulation. Furthermore, analysis of the age-stage, two-sex life table showed that negative effects on the B. brassicae aphid population growth were observed on F0 and F1 generations when aphids of parental (F0) generation were exposed to subelethal dose (LC25) of both formulations of pirimicarb. However, negative effects from sublethal exposure to the commercial and nanoformulated pirimicarb resulted in significant reduction on the net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of natural increase, and finite rate of increase of the green lacewings C. carnea. Our findings indicate that the approaches and assumptions used to assess the risks of conventional insecticides may not apply for nanopesticides. Further research is still needed to better understand the environmental impact of these compounds.
Keywords: Integrated pest management; Life table; Nanopesticides; Nanostructured lipid carriers; Sublethal effect.