| Summary: | The fall armyworm, Hyphantria cunea Drury (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) is an insect native to NorthAmerica that was recently introduced into Iran resulting in severe damage to trees and agriculturalproduction. An experiment was conducted to examine potential effects of medicinal plants, Artemisiaannua and Lavandula stoechas and the insect pathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis var.kurstaki on activities of digestive enzymes (α-amylase, α- and β-glucosidase, lipase and proteases)and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in H. cunea by using two hosts, mulberry and sycamore. Resultsshowed that B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki and plant extracts when administered orally, affected thedigestive enzyme profiles of H. cunea. Combined effect of B. thuringiensis, A. annua and L. stoechasextracts on mulberry decreased the activities of digestive enzymes in a dose-related manner, exceptfor β-glucosidase and lipase. When larvae were treated by different concentrations of the mentionedinsecticides, LDH activity increased i.e. the higher activity was obtained by B. thurengiensis alone andB. thurengiensis and L. stoechas extracts together. The least activity was observed in the case of L.stoechas extracts alone on both hosts. Physiological analysis would be particularly informative whenusing combination of biopesticides to enhance the efficiency of a safe management process.
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