Suscetibilidade de populações do curuquerê do algodoeiro, Alabama argillacea (Hubner) (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae) a inseticidas

Abstract

The frequent and intensive uses of insecticides as well as the reports of chemical control failures towards the Alabama argillacea (Hübner 1818) in some cotton grower’s areas have raised questions about the existence of insecticide resistance. Therefore, the present study evaluated whether the hypothesis of insecticide resistance evolution could explain these control failures. For this, A. argillacea populations collected from different cotton growing regions in Brazil were subjected exposure with deltamethrin, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, abamectin, and spinosad, traditional and new chemicals in concentration-mortality bioassays. All bioassays followed the leaf dipping method usually suggested in many trials. Overall, these populations showed high resistance rates to deltamethrin (up to 52.3 times). All assessed populations showed significant resistance ratios (up to 8.5 times) to chlorpyrifos. The resistance ratios for endosulfan were also considered low (up to 11.1 times) among leafworm population, although statistically significant. The maximum resistance ratio found for abamectin was 4.3-times, and therefore considered also of low value, which suggests that this outcome still refers to the populations natural variability. This variability may also be associated with the resistance ratio values found for spinosad, which varied significantly from 3.9 to 23.5 times. These results suggest that the populations of A. argillacea evaluated are still particularly susceptible to the insecticideschlorpyrifos, endosulfan, abamectin, and spinosad, but no need to monitor the emergence of resistance to these insecticides.Regarding to abamectin and spinosad, in general, the results probably refer to a natural variability of these populations towards these insecticides. Referring to deltamethrin, almost all of the populations are already above a critical level of resistance, and therefore the introduction of resistance management tactics in areas where this and other pyrethroids are sprayed is advised.