Media type: E-Article Title: Feeding behaviour and mortality of Philaenus spumarius exposed to insecticides and their impact on Xylella fastidiosa transmission Contributor: Lago, Clara; Cornara, Daniele; Minutillo, Serena Anna; Moreno, Aránzazu; Fereres, Alberto imprint: Wiley, 2022 Published in: Pest Management Science Language: English DOI: 10.1002/ps.7105 ISSN: 1526-498X; 1526-4998 Keywords: Insect Science ; Agronomy and Crop Science ; General Medicine Origination: Footnote: Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>BACKGROUND</jats:title><jats:p>Insecticides are essential, though controversial tools in modern pest management. Insecticides can slow the spread of key vector‐borne plant pathogens, but often lead to inconsistent results given that insecticide use is generally focused on acute toxicity under no‐choice conditions. Here, we analysed the lethal (survival) and sublethal (feeding behaviour) effects of six commercial products (acetamiprid, deltamethrin, spinosad, sulfoxaflor, pyrethrin and kaolin) on <jats:italic>Philaenus spumarius</jats:italic>, vector of the bacterium <jats:italic>Xylella fastidiosa</jats:italic>. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of insecticides displaying different degrees of acute toxicity against spittlebugs (highest to lowest: acetamiprid, pyrethrin and kaolin) on the transmission of <jats:italic>X. fastidiosa</jats:italic> by <jats:italic>P. spumarius</jats:italic> under both free‐choice and no‐choice conditions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>RESULTS</jats:title><jats:p>Deltamethrin, acetamiprid and to a limited extent pyrethrin significantly altered the feeding behaviour of <jats:italic>P. spumarius</jats:italic>. Deltamethrin and acetamiprid were highly toxic against <jats:italic>P. spumarius</jats:italic>, but the mortality induced by exposure to pyrethrin was limited overall. By contrast, spinosad, sulfoxaflor and kaolin did not significantly impact <jats:italic>P. spumarius</jats:italic> feeding behaviour or survival. Under no‐choice conditions, both pyrethrin and acetamiprid reduced the <jats:italic>X. fastidiosa</jats:italic> inoculation rate compared with kaolin and the control. On the other hand, pyrethrin reduced transmission, but acetamiprid failed to significantly affect bacterial inoculation under free‐choice conditions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>CONCLUSION</jats:title><jats:p>Pyrethrin was the only compound able to reduce <jats:italic>X. fastidiosa</jats:italic> transmission under both free‐choice and no‐choice conditions. <jats:italic>Xylella fastidiosa</jats:italic> management strategy based exclusively on the evaluation of insecticide acute toxicity under no‐choice conditions would most likely fail to prevent, or slow, bacterial spread. © 2022 The Authors. <jats:italic>Pest Management Science</jats:italic> published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.</jats:p></jats:sec>