Insecticide resistance in Egyptian populations of the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae)

Three collections of Bemisia tabaci were taken from cotton and vegetable crops at the beginning of the growing season in Egypt. These displayed marked resistance to the carbamates carbosulfan (ca 20- to 50-fold) and aldicarb (ca 40- to 80-fold) and moderate resistance to the pyrethroids cypermethrin (ca 10- to 30-fold) and lambda-cyhalothrin (ca 10- to 25-fold). They displayed no resistance to the organophosphates profenofos and pirimiphos-methyl, or to imidacloprid. Another population, collected at the end of the growing season, differed markedly in its response. In this population, resistance to carbosulfan remained high (ca 40-fold), resistance to profenofos and cypermethrin was increased (ca 20- and 50-fold respectively) and a slight resistance to imidacloprid was detected (ca 6-fold). Resistance to cypermethrin and profenofos was shown to be similar among adults and nymphs. Irrespective of collection date, none of the populations showed resistance to pyriproxyfen. These Egyptian populations were compared with two representative Israeli populations. The differences between their resistance profiles is discussed in terms of their collection date, their geographical proximity and the patterns of insecticide use at their sites of collection. (C) 2003 Society of Chemical Industry.