Differences in the Susceptibility to Commercial Insecticides among Populations of the Lesser Mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus Collected from Poultry Houses in France

Abstract

The control of insect pests often relies on the recurrent application of insecticides. This is the case for the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, an invasive beetle infesting poultry farms. There is evidence that A. diaperinus can develop resistance to several insecticides. Evaluation of such resistance has never been conducted in France, despite the beetle’s presence since the 1970s. We assess insecticide susceptibility in 10 populations from French poultry farms and compare patterns with two susceptible populations. Adults are subjected to short-term exposures (4 h) to four commercial insecticides and their recovery is assessed. Temporal survival also is scored during constant exposures for seven days. Clear-cut differences among the farm populations are found. Except for three populations that have patterns similar to those of the two susceptible populations, all the other farm populations have a much greater capacity to recover and survive insecticide exposures, especially to pyrethroid-based formulations. Three populations in particular even exhibit clear signs of resistance to pyrethroids, with median lethal times more than 10-fold superior to values of the susceptible population. No insect in any population recovers from the pirimiphos-methyl exposure, and all beetles are apparently dead after 15 h. Our results demonstrate the existence of resistant populations to pyrethroids in Brittany France.

Effects of insecticides on lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) – bioaccumulation, mortality, and growth

“…It must be highlighted that the results of this study may be limited to the particular LMW strain that was used in these experiments. Several studies have found significant interpopulation variation in susceptibility of LMW, collected from poultry farms, to a variety of pesticides, including the substances imidacloprid, spinosad, and cypermethrin which significantly affected LMW larvae in this study (Hickmann et al, 2018;Renault and Colinet, 2021;Singh and Johnson, 2015). Resistance to the pesticides reported in the latter studies correlated to long-term exposure of populations to sub-lethal doses.…”

Alphitobius diaperinus larvae (lesser mealworm) as human food – An approval of the European Commission – A critical review

“…This species is a cosmopolitan pest that infests stored grains, poultry, and other animal products (Aalbu et al, 2002). It is considered a major pest in poultry farms world-wide and is known to cause significant economic losses due to damage to poultry feed and disease transmission (Renault and Colinet, 2021). This part of the review will discuss the bioecology of A. diaperinus.…”

POTENSI EKSTRAK LIMBAH KULIT PETAI DAN KULIT UBI KAYU SEBAGAI BIOINSEKTISIDA PENGENDALI SERANGGA HAMA PETERNAKAN (Alphitobius diaperinus)

“…Bahkan larva A. diaperinus memiliki kemampuan menggerogoti celah-celah bangunan dan dinding kandang ketika mereka memasuki fase pupasi (Dinev, 2013). A. diaperinus yang termakan oleh ayam dapat mengakibatkan stres gizi karena terbatasnya kemampuan unggas mencerna zat kitin serangga (Renault & Colinet, 2021). A. diaperinus juga merupakan vektor virus Avian leucosis dan dapat menjadi inang bagi bakteri dan jamur penyebab penyakit unggas seperti Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, S. typhimurium, Campylobacter jejuni (Hazeleger et al, 2008;Agabou & Alloui, 2010).…”

“…Penggunaan insektisida tidak dapat dipungkiri telah banyak menimbulkan berbagai permasalahan, antara lain meninggalkan residu yang berbahaya terhadap lingkungan dan kesehatan manusia, harga insektisida sintetik fluktuatif (Salaki et al, 2012), menimbulkan efek berbahaya terhadap organisme non-target (As'ad et al, 2019), serta timbulnya resistensi hama terhadap pestisida (Utami et al, 2017). Peneliti terdahulu juga telah membuktikan bahwa populasi A. diaperinus dapat mengembangkan resistensi terhadap insektisida berbasis piretroid, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, imidakloprid, permetrin, atau tetraklorvinfos (Renault & Colinet, 2021;Lyons et al, 2017;Lambkin & Furlong, 2014). Banyaknya permasalahan akibat penggunaan insektisida sintetis tersebut, telah mendorong banyak peneliti berupaya menemukan alternatif insektisida alami (selanjutnya digunakan istilah bioinsektisida) yang lebih ramah lingkungan, antara lain pemanfaatan senyawa aktif dari tanaman.…”