Current status of insecticide resistance in Aphis gossypii and Aphis spiraecola (Hemiptera: Aphididae) under central Indian conditions in citrus

Abstract

Most commonly followed practice to manage sucking insect pests during flushing season in citrus by citrus growers is foliar application of insecticides. Leaf dip bioassays for insecticides, viz., acephate 75 SP, dimethoate 30 EC, quinalphos 25 EC, chlorpyriphos 20 EC, spinosad 45 SC, imidacloprid 17.8 SL and thiamethoxam 25 WG, were conducted to assess the susceptibility of field collected Aphis gossypii and Aphis spiraecola (Hemiptera–Aphididae) adults. In general, the resistance ratio (RR) values indicated that the current levels in aphid population from major citrus belts of Maharashtra are in very low resistance category. Among seven insecticides tested on adult aphids collected from Nagpur, Amravati and Wardha districts during 2013–2015, neonicotinoid group proved the most effective in causing mortality as indicated by the lower LC₅₀ values (0.01–0.04 ppm for imidacloprid; 0.03–0.05 ppm for thiamethoxam). Among the three locations, Amravati population has registered comparatively higher RR values indicating less susceptibility to insecticides. RR values calculated based on the base population indicated that the current resistance levels are between no and very low levels (1 < RR < 10).

Keywords:

• Aphis gossypii
• Aphis spiraecola
• adults
• insecticide resistance
• bioassay
• biochemical

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

We have tried to collect adult aphid populations from major citrus growing belts of central India to study the current status of insecticide resistance to the commonly used insecticides by the citrus growers. Frequency of insecticide sprays using these molecules was intense that there were discrepancies about the utility of particular group of insecticides. In this context, less response or less effectiveness of any molecule may be attributed to either insecticide resistance development or usage of spurious chemistries. Hence, laboratory bioassays were conducted on field population of aphids to find out the reason for the same. It was observed that among the three locations, Amravati location had registered comparatively higher resistance values indicating less susceptibility to insecticides. Resistance ratio (RR) values calculated based on the base population indicated that the current insecticide resistance levels were between no and very low levels (1 < RR < 10).

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from Director, ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, for successful conduct of this research work at the center.

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Source: Author.

Additional information

Funding

The financial support was provided by ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Notes on contributors

A. George

Anjitha George, PhD (Entomology), is currently working as scientist involved in research focused on management of insect pests in citrus-growing belts of India. She is currently working on management of fruit sucking moths which pose serious economic losses due to fruit drop.

C. N. Rao

C.N. Rao, PhD (Entomology), is also working at ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute as principal scientist and has wide knowledge and experience in the field of integrated pest management, biological control and insecticides.

S. Rahangadale

Sandeep Rahangdale, who worked as senior research fellow, has technical knowledge in biochemical mechanisms of insecticide resistance.