Effect of optical brighteners on the insecticidal activity of a nucleopolyhedrovirus in three instars of Spodoptera frugiperda

Certain optical brighteners are effective UV protectants, and can improve the insecticidal activity of baculoviruses. We evaluated the effect of 10 optical brighteners, from four chemically different groups, on the insecticidal activity of a nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV) in third instar Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The most effective optical brighteners were Blankophor BBH and Calcofluor M2R, both of which are stilbenes. The distyryl‐biphenyl derivative, Tinopal CBS, had no effect, whereas the stilbenes, Blankophor CLE and Leucophor SAC and the styryl‐benzenic derivative, Blankophor ER, resulted in a decrease in virus induced mortality compared to larvae infected with SfMNPV alone. Mixtures of SfMNPV + 0.1% Calcofluor M2R had relative potencies of 2.7, 6.5, and 61.6 in the second, third, and fourth instars, respectively. The mean time to death differed with instar, but was not affected by the addition of 0.1% Calcofluor M2R. Analysis of published studies indicated that the concentration of Calcofluor M2R‐related stilbenes was positively correlated with the relative potency observed in mixtures with homologous NPVs. The average magnitude of optical brightener activity did not differ significantly between early instars of 10 species of Lepidoptera. We conclude that virus formulations containing optical brighteners may be valuable for control of late instar lepidopteran pests.