Induction of insecticide tolerance in German cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) due to sublethal doses of imidacloprid, indoxacarb, and lambda-cyhalothrin

Abstract

The German cockroach is a global urban pest that causes serious public health problems. The induced levels of insecticide tolerance in the first-generation strains of German cockroach from previous topical treatment of laboratory colonies with LD₁₀ or LD₂₅ doses of imidacloprid, indoxacarb, or lambda-cyhalothrin four times with seven-day interval between each were investigated. Our results showed that the resistant ratios (RR₅₀) at LD₅₀, cytochrome P450 content, and glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) activity in adult cockroaches increased in the first generation when compared to the parental (field) and susceptible strains (SS). Therefore, cockroaches treated with insecticidal sublethal dose are likely to have more insecticide resistance in comparison to untreated ones.

Keywords:

• Blattella germanica
• insecticide resistance induction
• sublethal dose
• imidacloprid
• indoxacarb
• lambda-cyhalothrin

Acknowledgments

Hereby, we would like to thank Kavosh Kimia Kerman Co., Ltd (Kerman, Iran), a producer of agricultural pesticides. We also thank Prof. Hamid Reza Basseri from the School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and prof. Mehdi Nassiri Mahallati from the Agro-technology Department, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. This work was supported by Ferdowsi University of Mashhad under Grant number [47848].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.