Insecticide Resistance in Natural Enemies

Variation in susceptibility and selection for resistance to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in Mediterranean populations of Orius laevigatus

“…However, occasionally they must be used against certain pests, including key pests such as whiteflies [Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)], major pests such as aphids, and secondary pests, such as true bugs [Nezara viridula (L.)], leafhoppers (Empoasca sp. Thus, this variation could be exploited to optimize the beneficial action of natural enemies (Bielza, 2016;Lommen et al, 2017). Usually these insecticide applications lead to the disruption of biological control.…”

“…The intraspecific variation in tolerance to pesticides can be exploited in order to select strains resistant to insecticides and fungicides that must be applied to control certain pests and diseases, which would enable the beneficial action of natural enemies (Torres, 2012;Bielza, 2016). The idea of selection of natural enemies for pesticide resistance is not new (Hoy, 1986(Hoy, , 1990Johnson & Tabashnik, 1993), but has had little or no implementation in the field due to various reasons.…”

“…In this context, IPM based on biocontrol agents (BCA) has been imposed on many crops, especially horticultural crops grown under greenhouses (van Lenteren & Woets, 1988;Calvo et al, 2012). However, biological control is not always sufficient to manage pest populations, and supplemental pesticide applications are required (Rodrigues et al, 2013a;Bielza, 2016). Moreover, even in well-established and well-functioning systems, some changes such as a newly introduced pest or disease, or a change in the incidence of a secondary pest, might destabilize the system.…”

“…Moreover, even in well-established and well-functioning systems, some changes such as a newly introduced pest or disease, or a change in the incidence of a secondary pest, might destabilize the system. In such cases, selective compounds that match with BCAs to balance the pest complex are not always available, disrupting the biocontrol strategy (Bielza, 2016).…”

“…The most difficult aspect of effective integration of pesticides and natural enemies is overcoming their *Correspondence: E-mail: pablo.bielza@upct.es incompatibility (Rodrigues et al, 2013a). In order to guarantee the compatibility of pesticides with BCAs, studies that test toxicity are developed before their joint use in IPM programs (Bielza, 2016). Most studies on compatibility of natural enemies with pesticides focus on only one population of natural enemy, usually provided by a BCA supplier, not considering the natural variation in insecticide susceptibility among populations, as is well known to exist in pest species (Guill en & Bielza, 2015;Gr avalos et al, 2015).…”