Annonaceous acetogenins (Annona squamosa Linnaeus) comprises of a series of natural products which are extracted from Annonaceae species, squamocin proved to be highly efficient among those agents. Squamocin is mostly referred as a lethal agent for midgut cells of different insects, with toxic effects when tested against larva of some insects. In present study, LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ of squamocin for A. gemmatalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were calculated using probit analysis. Morphological changes in midgut cells were analyzed under light, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopes when larvae were treated with LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ of squamocin for 24, 48 and 72 h. Results revealed that the maximum damage to midgut cells was found under LC₉₀ where it showed digestive cells with enlarged basal labyrinth, highly vacuolated cytoplasm, damaged apical surface, cell protrusions to the gut lumen, autophagy and cell death. The midgut goblet cells showed a strong disorganization of their microvilli. Likewise, in insects treated with squamocin, mitochondria were not marked with Mitotracker fluorescent probe, suggesting some molecular damage in these organelles, which was reinforced by decrease in the respiration rate in these insects. These results demonstrate that squamocin has potential to induce enough morphological changes in midgut through epithelial cell damage in A. gemmatalis.

Annonaceous acetogenins（Annona squamosa Linnaeus）由一系列从Annonaceae物种中提取的天然产物组成，Squamocin在这些试剂中被证明是高效的。南瓜霉素通常被认为是不同昆虫中肠细胞的致死剂，对某些昆虫的幼虫进行测试时具有毒性作用。在本研究中，使用概率分析法计算了金黄色葡萄球菌Hübner（鳞翅目：夜蛾科）的鳞球菌素的LC ₅₀和LC ₉₀。当LC ₅₀和LC ₉₀处理幼虫时，在光镜，荧光镜和透射电子显微镜下分析中肠细胞的形态变化squamocin持续24、48和72小时。结果表明，对中肠细胞的最大损害是在LC ₉₀下发现的，其显示消化细胞的基底迷宫扩大，细胞质高度空泡化，顶端表面受损，细胞向肠腔突出，自噬和细胞死亡。中肠杯状细胞显示出其微绒毛的强烈紊乱。同样，在用squamocin处理的昆虫中，线粒体也没有用Mitotracker荧光探针标记，表明这些细胞器中存在一些分子损伤，而这些昆虫的呼吸速率降低则加剧了这种损伤。这些结果表明，squamocin有潜力来诱导通过在表皮细胞损伤中肠足够形态变化A.藜豆夜蛾。