Crude honey bee venom and Bacillus thuringiensis L. Cry1c toxin in controlling wax moth Achroia grisella F. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Abstract

Achroia grisella, is a noxious pest of honey bee hives. In this study the toxicity of honey bee venom and bacterial Cry1C toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis on A. grisella were assessed. In addition, the synergistic interaction between BT Cry1c and crude honey bee venom was determined. The combination of HBV and Cry1C increased the activity for both toxins. Therefore, further analysis was carried out to assess the synergistic interaction of each compound assay separately and in mixture. The results showed LC₅₀ value of 1.105 μg/μl for HBV and LC₅₀ value of 0.201 μg/μl for Cry1C. The combination bioassay result showed an LC₅₀ value of 0.549 μg/μl. The combined calculated LC₅₀ is containing lower concentration of the component toxins, this result proved that the toxicity was enhanced due to the combination. A chi square value of 39.93and relative synergistic factor ratio of 1.14 confirmed that a synergic interaction was achieved in combination.

Keywords:

• crude honey bee venom
• Cry1C
• synergistic interaction

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the Department of Agriculture Batu Pahat, Johor Malaysia for their support in providing the lesser wax moth samples used in this research. The gratitude also goes to the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and University Putra Malaysia (UPM) for their financial support.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Prof Dr Dzolkhifli Omar [grant number 6361900].