Evaluation of the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Susceptibility to λ-Cyhalothrin, Malathion, and Diazinon in Northeastern Iran

Abstract

The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Linnaeus 1758), is a nocturnal blood-sucking ectoparasite of humans that is highly prevalent in the northeast of Iran. In recent years, the efficacy of those insecticides that have been frequently used to control bed bugs in Iran has not been studied. Due to frequent complaints about bed bug treatment failures in Mashhad city (northeastern Iran), this study assessed the susceptibility of C. lectularius collected from a student residence hall to Diazinon, Malathion, and λ-cyhalothrin. The desired concentrations of each insecticide were prepared in acetone, and bioassays were performed using insecticide-impregnated filter paper method. The concentration–response data were subjected to POLO-PC software and data were analyzed by the log-probit procedure. The LC50 values of Diazinon and λ-cyhalothrin for examined bed bugs were 1,337.40 and 2,022.36 ppm, respectively. Malathion at the highest concentration (10,000 ppm) did not exhibit any toxicity to examined C. lectularius. Comparing these results to the same previous studies showed that susceptibility of examined bed bugs to these insecticides has been highly decreased. This study revealed an occurrence of insecticide resistance in bed bug populations in northeastern Iran. It also suggests that Malathion, Diazinon, and λ-cyhalothrin are ineffective against bed bugs in this region.

The Efficacy of some Insecticides and Essential Oil-Based Products against The Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius

“…However, after 24-h exposure to three insecticides, collected mortality data revealed that Diazinon was the most toxic to exposed bed bugs (100% mortality at 0.09 mg/ml). These results were in agreement with the results of Berenji et al (2019), who indicated that Diazinon was the most toxic against bed bugs (LC 50 = 1,337.40 ppm) after 24-h of treatment as compared to Malathion, and λ-cyhalothrin. Likewise, Steelman et al (2008) exposed three different fieldcollected bed bug populations to Diazinon using adult vial test method.…”

“…Traditionally, chemical insecticide especially organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids are used against bed bugs, but recently application of these commercial insecticides does not give a satisfactory control (Berenji et al 2019). The bed bug control failure can be attributed to many reasons, such as poor technical skills, wrong pesticide selection, inadequate dosing of applied insecticide, and developing resistance (Tawatsin et al 2011).…”

“…Pyrethroids have been extensively used against bed bugs, because these compounds are less toxic to mammalians and have fast knockdown activity (Dang et al 2015). Also, organophosphates are commonly used alongside pyrethroids for bed bug control (Berenji et al 2019). However, using pyrethroids had many problems, such as toxic residues and widespread development of resistance, and undesirable effects on nontarget organisms (Sutherland et al 2015 andLee et al 2018).…”

High Levels of Pyrethroid Resistance and Super-Kdr Mutations in the Populations of Tropical Bed Bug, Cimex Hemipterus, in Iran

“…Adult bed bugs from the selected sites were subjected to insecticide bioassay via tarsal-contact method adapted to previously applied methods [19,22,23,25,28,31,36,39,[40][41][42][43][44]. Brie y, adult bed bugs were assayed against permethrin (0.75%)-impregnated lter papers, supplied by USM/01 (www.inreskit.usm.my).…”

“…Studies on the Middle East are scarce and limited to a few reports of the common bed bug from Iran [32][33][34], Israel [24,35], and Kuwait [36] and of the tropical bed bug from Israel [6] and Iraq [7]. Beside these reports, there are documentations of the insensitivity of C. lectularius to malathion, diazinon, and lambdacyhalothrin in the northeast of Iran [36] and also V419L, L925I, and I936F kdr-type mutations in different populations of the common bed bug from Israel [24]. Despite numerous reports of C. lectularius resistance to pyrethroids, there is scant information on the resistance status of the tropical bed bug in the Middle East.…”