SPIROTETRAMAT – APPLICATION IN FRUIT GROWING, EFFICACY,

RESISTANCE AND TOXICITY

ANAMARIJA BOKULIĆ PETRIĆ1*, IVAN JURAN2 , TIHOMIR MILIČEVIĆ3 , ALEKSANDAR MEŠIĆ2

1Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Sustainable Use of Pesticides, Ulica grada Vukovara 78, Zagreb, Croatia *anamarija.bokulic@mps.hr
2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Zoology, Svetošimunska cesta 25, Zagreb, Croatia
3University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Pathology, Svetošimunska cesta 25, Zagreb, Croatia

1. INTRODUCTION
Spirotetramat is spirocyclic tetramic acid derivative which belongs to ketoenol chemical class and acts as a lipid biosynthesis inhibitor (Hu et al., 2022).
Spirotetramat is used on different crops including fruits such as pome and stone fruits, grapes, citrus, small fruits, nuts and and tropical fruits against
whiteflies, aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, psyllids, thrips and other sucking insects in their juvenile, immature stages. Spirotetramat is a systemic
insecticide that penetrates the leaf cuticle and migrates in the plant through the phloem and xylem acting to inhibit growth of younger insects and reduce
the ability of pests reproduction by decreasing fecundity of adults.

2. USE OF SPIROTETRAMAT IN EUROPEAN UNION

Spirotetramat is contained in authorized plant protection products in 24 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Germany,
Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherland, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia
and Slovakia (European Commission, 2023).
Table 1. Authorized uses of spirotetramat on fruits. Source: EPPO (2023)
Member Member
Authorized use on fruits Pests Authorized use on fruits Pests
State State
Apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, Aphids, wooly aphids, mites, midges, Apples, cherries, plums, red currant, white currant, Aphids, wooly aphids, psyllids, scales,
Austria currants, cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, spider mites, whitefly, phylloxera, scales, Ireland
black currant, strawberries midges, mites, gall mites
gooseberries, grapevines, melons phytoplasmas, thrips
Apples, citrus fruits (orange, lemon, lime, mandarins
Strawberries, grapes, blueberries, bilberries, currants, and clementine, grapefruits, bergamot, citron, bitter
Aphids, wooly aphids, mites, scales, Aphids, wooly aphids, scales, psyllids,
Belgium gooseberries, kiwiberry, apples, pears, apricot, cherries Note:
midges, psyllids, fruit fly,optional
whiteflies Italy orange, chinotto), peaches, apricots, plums, cherries,
midges, whiteflies, mites, phylloxera
(also sour), plums, peaches, nectarines nectarines, khaki, kiwi, grapes, melon, watermelon,
Grapes, oranges, lemon, strawberry, peaches, strawberries
Mealybugs, aphids, thrips, whiteflies,
Croatia nectarines, apricots, cherries, plums, mandarins, pears,
scales, mites, wooly aphids and psyllids Aphids, psyllids, midges, scales, wooly
nuts, lime, kumquat and pomegranate Lithuania Apples, pears, plums, cherries
aphids
Czech Apricots, cherries, sour cherries, peaches, plums, Aphids, mites, mealybugs, scales,
Republic strawberries, apples, pears whiteflies, fruit fly Grapes, plums, peaches, apricots, cherries, pears, Aphids, phylloxera, scales, fruit fly,
Luxemburg apples, strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, gooseberries, psyllids, gall midges, wooly aphids, mites,
Aphids, wooly aphids, mealybugs, midges,
Denmark Apples, pears, cherries and plums currants whiteflies, gall mites, mites
cherry flies
Apples, pears, strawberries, cherries, kiwiberries,
Finland Apples, pears, plums, cherries, berries Aphids, scale aphids, midges Netherlands Aphids, psyllids
grapes, blackberries, raspberries
Mealybugs, mites, whiteflies, aphids,
Citrus fruits , pineapples, strawberries, pome fruits, Apples, blueberries, cherries, currants, black
France midges, psyllids, woligate aphids, flower Aphids, wooly aphids, scales, mites,
peaches, apricots, plums, mango Slovenia elderberries, gooseberries, grapes, pears, plums,
midges thrips, whiteflies, psyllids
strawberries
Apples, pears, strawberries, red currant, white currant,
Aphids, wooly aphids, psyllids, mites, gall Grapes, citrus fruits, almond, apricot, blueberry,
black currant, peaches, apricots, sweet cherries, sour Mealybugs, aphids, whiteflies, scales,
Germany midges, Diaspididae, scales, whiteflies, Spain bilberry, hazel, khaki, plums, blackthorn, strawberries,
cherries plums, gooseberries, blueberries, black thrips, almond wasp, psyllids
Thyroid species pomegranate, kiwi, apples, peaches, pears, banana
elderberries, grapevine

3. SPIROTETRMAT TOXICITY, EFFICACY AND RESISTANCE

Spirotetramat expresses its toxicity several days after treatment and has very high long lasting effect, at least 5 to 6 weeks after application (Labanowska et
al., 2017).
Table 2. Spirotetramat efficacy against sucking pests Table 3. Spirotetramat resistance. Source: Faculty of Agriculture, 2022
Pest Crop Stage Efficacy (in Days after Reference Pest Sensitivity of tested populations to spirotetramat (in %) Year of trial
%) treatment
Myzus persicae Peach Whole population 96.7 28 Arnaudov and Petkova, 2020 Psylla sp. 43 2020
Myzus persicae Peach Whole population 95 28 Arnaudov and Petkova, 2020 Psylla sp. 100 2021
Cacopsylla pyri Pear Larvae 82.5–91.8 7 Nađ and Marinković, 2022
Aphis pomi 20 2019
Cacopsylla pyri Pear Larvae 75.3–91.4 7 Jaworska et al., 2012
Aphis pomi 18 2020
Cacopsylla pyri Pear Nymphs >90 15, 23, 29 Civolani et al., 2015
Panonychus ulmi Apple Mobile forms 84 to 100 7-42 Labanowska et al., 2017) Dysaphis plantaginea 29 2019
Panonychus ulmi Blackcurrant Mobile forms 83 to 100 7- 28 Labanowska et al., 2017 Dysaphis plantaginea 40 2020

4. CONCLUSION 5. REFERENCES
1. Arnaudov, V. and Petkova, R. (2020). Spirotetramat (Movento®): new systemic insecticide for control of green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera:
Aphidae) on peach. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science 26 (2), 431–434.Numerically listed
2. Civolani, S., Boselli, M., Butturini, A., Chicca, M., Cassanelli, S., Tommasini, M.G., and Fano, E.A. (2015). Testing spirotetramat as an alternative solution to abamectin
The efficacy of spirotetramat ranges from good to for Cacopsylla pyri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) control: Laboratory and field tests. Journal of Economic Entomology 108 (6), 2737–2742 https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tov228

excellent on a wide spectrum of sucking pests in their 3. EPPO. (2023). https://www.eppo.int/ACTIVITIES/plant_protection_products/registered_products

juvenile stages, especially on larvae, but the efficacy on
adults seems to be low. Lack of cross-resistance to
conventional insecticides supports spirotetramat to be
included in a resistance management strategy with
susceptibility monitoring of field populations.
4. European Commission. (2023). https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database_en
5. Faculty of Agriculture. (2022). Final report for Monitoring of the resistance of harmful organisms to plant protection products. https://rezistentnost-szb.hr/
6. Hu, J., Wang, J., Yu, Y., Rao, W., Chen, F., Wang, C., and Fan, G. (2022). Cross-Resistance Pattern and Genetic Studies in Spirotetramat-Resistant Citrus Red Mite,
Panonychus citri (Acari: Tetranychidae). Agriculture 12 (5), 737 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12050737
7. Jaworska, K., Olszak, R.W., Łabanowska, B., and Korzeniowski, M. (2012). Efficacy of spirotetramat in the control of pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyri L.) on pear trees in
Poland. Journal of Fruit and Ornamental Plant Research 20 (2), 91-106 https://doi.org/10.2478/v10290-012-0019-3
8. Labanowska, B.H., Piotrowski, W., Płuciennik, Z., Gasparski, T., Tartanus, M., Sobieszek, B., and Korzeniowski, M. (2017). Usefulness of spirotetramat (Movento 100 SC)
to control spider mites on apple, blackcurrant and raspberry in Poland. Integrated Protection of Fruit Crops 123, 115-119.
9. Nađ, Đ. and Marinković, D. (2022). Performance evaluation of spirodiclofen, spirotetramat and carboxymethyl cellulose-B for management of Cacopsylla
pyri. Plant Protection Science 58 (1), 70–75 https://doi.org/10.17221/110/2021-PPS

V Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing, Zagreb, Croatia, June 18-21, 2023