For effective pest control, nano-insecticides have recently been proposed as a promising alternative to traditional ones. Thus, this study aimed to compare the efficacy of the traditional and nano-forms of thiocyclam (a natural toxin-based insecticide) and chlorantraniliprole (a diamide insecticide) against two major insect pests, the cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.), and the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel). The residue levels of the two insecticides in tomato fruits were also assessed. The results showed that chlorantraniliprole was more effective against both insects than thiocyclam, and the nano-forms were more effective than the traditional ones. This higher insecticidal activity of chlorantraniliprole could be attributed to its novel action by binding tightly to ryanodine receptors in insects. The study also optimized and validated an analytical method for residue determination of thiocyclam and chlorantraniliprole in tomato fruits using QuEChERS method and LC-MS/MS. Percentage recovery ranged from 70 to 104%, with good precision and expanded uncertainty of up to ± 23%. The half-life times of thiocyclam and its nano-form in tomatoes were 0.38 and 0.57 days, respectively, compared to 0.7 and 0.38 days for chlorantraniliprole and its nano-form. On the other hand, the calculated pre-harvest intervals for thiocyclam and its nano-form, using the EU maximum residue limit, were 7 and 3 days, respectively, compared to 1 day for both forms of chlorantraniliprole.

为了有效防治害虫，纳米杀虫剂最近被提议作为传统杀虫剂的有前途的替代品。因此，本研究旨在比较传统和纳米形式的硫环酰胺（一种天然毒素杀虫剂）和氯虫苯甲酰胺（一种二酰胺杀虫剂）对两种主要害虫：棉叶虫、斜纹夜蛾（Boisd.）的功效。以及黑地老虎Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel)。还评估了番茄果实中两种杀虫剂的残留水平。结果表明，氯虫苯甲酰胺比硫环酰胺对这两种昆虫更有效，并且纳米形式比传统形式更有效。氯虫苯甲酰胺的这种较高的杀虫活性可归因于其与昆虫中的兰尼丁受体紧密结合的新颖作用。该研究还优化并验证了使用 QuEChERS 方法和 LC-MS/MS 测定番茄果实中硫环菌素和氯虫苯甲酰胺残留的分析方法。回收率范围为 70% 至 104%，精度良好，不确定性扩展至 ±23%。硫环酰胺及其纳米形式在番茄中的半衰期分别为 0.38 和 0.57 天，而氯虫苯甲酰胺及其纳米形式的半衰期为 0.7 和 0.38 天。另一方面，使用欧盟最大残留限量计算出的硫环菌素及其纳米形式的收获前间隔分别为 7 天和 3 天，而两种形式的氯虫苯甲酰胺的收获前间隔均为 1 天。