Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2000) 2, 147-153

Herbert Álvaro A. Siqueira, Raul Narciso C. Guedes and Marcelo C. Picanço (2000)
Insecticide resistance in populations of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)
Agricultural and Forest Entomology 2 (2), 147-153
Abstract: 1 Control failures of insecticides used against the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Brazil led to the investigation of the possible occurrence of resistance of this insect pest to abamectin, cartap, methamidophos and permethrin.
2 The insect populations were collected from seven sites in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. These populations were subjected to concentration–mortality bioassays using insecticide-impregnated filter papers.
3 We were unable to obtain a single population which provided a susceptibility standard for all insecticides tested. Therefore, the resistance levels were estimated in relation to the most susceptible population to each insecticide. Resistance to abamectin and cartap were observed in all populations when compared with the susceptible standard population, with resistance ratios ranging from 5.2- to 9.4-fold and from 2.2- to 21.9-fold for abamectin and cartap, respectively. Resistance to permethrin was observed in five populations with resistance ratios ranging from 1.9- to 6.6-fold, whereas resistance to methamidophos was observed in four populations with resistance ratios ranging from 2.6- to 4.2-fold.
4 The long period and high frequency of use of these insecticides against this insect pest suggest that the evolution of insecticide resistance on them has been relatively slow. Alternatively, the phenomenon might be widespread among Brazilian populations of T. absoluta making the finding of suitable standard susceptible populations difficult and leading to an underestimation of the insecticide resistance levels in this pest.
5 Higher levels of resistance to abamectin, cartap and permethrin are correlated with greater use of these compounds by growers. This finding suggests that local variation in insecticide use was an important cause of variation in susceptibility.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Raul Narciso C. Guedes, Herbert A.A. Siqueira, Marcelo Coutinho Picanco

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pesticide resistance of pest

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phthorimaea absoluta		Brazil (south)