Toxicity of novel aromatic and aliphatic organic acid and ester analogs of trypsin modulating oostatic factor to larvae of the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens complex, and the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Eight non-peptidic chemical analogs of trypsin modulating oostatic factor (TMOF, NH₂-YDPAP₆), an insect hormone inhibiting trypsin biosynthesis in mosquitoes, were synthesized based on the structure of the native peptide. The median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) for the chemical analogs, TMOF and FDPAP (a peptidic analog of TMOF) was estimated for larvae of the northern house mosquito, the Culex pipiens complex, using a static 5-day bioassay. Four of these compounds demonstrated the same larvicidal activity as TMOF, while three of these compounds were 1.2-2.5-fold more active than TMOF. The compounds introduced by injection were toxic to fourth instars of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, except for TMOF, FDPAP, and PPHEN. Injection of TMOF and FDPAP into fourth stadium and TMOF into second stadium M. sexta had no effect on trypsin activity, growth, or mortality. Apparently the mosquito hormone is inactive in the tobacco hornworm at the developmental stages examined. Three TMOF analogs (CHEA, PHEA, and PHA) demonstrating the highest activity by injection in M. sexta were also found to be toxic by injection in fourth instars of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens, and the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea, as well as adult male German cockroaches, Blattela germanica. A two-choice feeding bioassay with H. virescens indicated that at least one of the TMOF analogs, PHEA, has anti-feeding properties.