2011 Annual Report
1a.Objectives (from AD-416)
Establish baseline responses to insecticides where feasible and evaluate longer term performance to safeguard against resistance development. Incorporate resistance management strategies into pest management programs for particular pests of cotton and associated crops including silverleaf whitefly, glassy-winged sharpshooter, and Lygus spp.
1b.Approach (from AD-416)
Develop bioassay methods for various insect pests that realistically depict the type of exposures that occur in the field. Collect target pests in their crop habitat and establish and maintain cultures for repetitive testing. Evaluate relative susceptibilities to crucial insecticides by examining dose-mortality responses of immature and adults stages. Determine stability of resistance when it occurs in populations and formulate effective strategies for mitigating resistance by incorporating information on resistance stability. Documenst SCA with UC Riverside. Formerly 5347-22620-017-12S (6/09) & 5347-22620-018-02S (12/09) & 5347-22620-017-14S (12/10).
A new invasive pest to California and Arizona, the bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris), was the focus of much of the toxicological testing performed in 2011 under this sub-project. The bagrada bug is a major pest of crop plants in the Brassicaceae (cole crops) which includes important foods like cabbage, kale, turnip, cauliflower, mustard, broccoli, and radish. Adults and nymphs use their piercing/sucking mouth parts to feed on leaves and the meristematic regions of plants, causing stippling and wilting of leaves and formation of lateral shoots due to damage to apical meristems. Control of the bagrada bug has been difficult in fall plantings of cole crops and has stimulated the screening of insecticides to evaluate their efficacies. Laboratory bioassays performed in collaboration with UC Riverside researchers have demonstrated the pyrethroid insecticide bifenthrin to be the most toxic of all tested compounds, followed by the neonicotinoid compound dinotefuran. Personnel at UC Riverside have been indispensable in the collection, establishment and maintenance of colonies of bagrada bug, and in making available laboratory space for conducting bioassays.
The ADODR monitored activities for the project by frequent meetings, site visits, and emails with the cooperating scientist.