| Abstract: | A simple and rapid paralysis assay was developed to detect and characterise knockdown resistance in larvae of the house fly and pink bollworm. Pyrethroidtreated larvae unable to perform a stereotypic curling movement when probed with a warm needle, 10 min (house fly) or 60 min (pink bollworm) after treatment, were considered to be paralysed. Responses in a susceptible strain of house fly were compared with those of the pyrethroid-resistant strains kdr and super-kdr. In this assay, the kdr strain displayed over 28 fold resistance to deltamethrin, and super-kdr larvae were unaffected by doses up to 100μg. These results are in good qualitative agreement with previous studies. The assay detected no significant fenvalerate resistance in pink bollworm larvae collected from the field; this was consistent with mortality bioassays performed on wild adult males. The limitations and potential utility of the paralysis bioassay in resistance screening are discussed. |
