Impact of spray application methodology on the development of resistance to cypermethrin and spinosad by fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith)

The development of resistance to an insecticide under various types of application method has yet to be reported in the literature. Five fall armyworm Spodoptera armigera (JE Smith) colonies were reared in a chamber for ten generations before starting topical application bioassays. From each colony, 200-500 third-fourth-instar larvae were fed for 72 h on corn plants sprayed with cypermethrin or spinosad at minimum application rate (20 g ha(-1)) using a small droplet size nozzle XR8001VS (volume median diameter D(v0.5) = 163 microm) or a large droplet size nozzle XR8008VS (D(v0.5) = 519 microm). Surviving larvae were transferred to untreated corn leaves to complete their life cycle. Next-generation third-instar larvae of each colony were topically dosed with technical cypermethrin or spinosad at 1 microL per larva, and mortality was recorded 24 h post-treatment. The results indicated that cypermethrin demonstrated an insecticidal activity greater than that of spinosad, and the cypermethrin regression lines moved to the right faster than those for spinosad, indicating an increased tolerance of cypermethrin. Generally, larvae from all generations (F1-F7) under the XR8008VS treatments were less susceptible to cypermethrin and developed resistance faster and to higher levels than larvae from the XR8001VS treatments. The confidence limits (95%) of LD(50) for all spinosad treatments indicated that there was no significant difference from the LD(50) value of the susceptible reference strain. The results are a first indication that application technology/insecticide reaction may affect the rapidity of resistance development in certain pest/plant scenarios, but field studies are needed to confirm this conclusion.