| Abstract: | The following possible methods of minimising the risks of resistance are considered: (a) adjustment of the dosage and frequency of spraying so that resistance genes are effectively recessive; (b) detection and eradication of new foci of resistance before they have a chance to spread; (c) spraying a ‘mosaic’ of unrelated insecticides with the intention that immigrants from one sector of the mosaic to another will ‘dilute’ the frequency of resistance genes; (d) re-introduction of susceptibility genes into the progeny of wild females by the release of heterozygous males with resistance genes translocated on to their Y chromosome so that they are protected from insecticidal killing but will pass susceptibility to their female progeny; (e) replacement of a resistant by a susceptible population by means of a negatively heterotic system such as bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility. A plausible case can be made for each of these methods based on theoretical models and appropriate assumptions. However, an assessment of whether any of them will really beof any value depends on the answers to certain questions in the field. Therefore field projects have been initiated on Anopheles culicifacies in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Culex quinquefasciatus in Tanzania and Anopheles arabiensis in Sudan. The results so far are summarised. |
