Cotton whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) resistance to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides in Pakistan

Resistance to three organophosphate and four pyrethroid insecticides was monitored from 1992 to 2000 in field populations of adult whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci, from Pakistan using a leaf-dip method. There was generally a very high resistance to dimethoate and deltamethrin, and a moderate resistance to monocrotophos during 1992 to 1996. From 1997 to 2000, resistance to these insecticides dropped to low levels because of less reliance on them for whitefly control, and introduction of new chemistries with novel modes of action that had no cross-resistance to conventional insecticides. Concurrently, whitefly resistance to acephate, fenpropathrin, lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin mostly remained low. An insecticide resistance management strategy is recommended that particularly emphasizes the rotation of still-effective insecticides from different chemical classes along with the use of novel chemicals and other tactics of integrated pest management.