Molecular Mechanisms of Insecticide Resistance

Abstract

Four decades of intensive use of synthetic organic insecticides to control arthropod pests and disease vectors have led to the selection of insecticide or acaricide resistance in approximately 450 arthropod species (Georghiou 1986). In the most extreme cases, such as the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) in parts of the eastern United States, populations are resistant to virtually all chemicals available for control (Forgash 1984). The deleterious consequences of pesticide resistance in arthropods include increased levels of environmental contamination and risks of applicator and agricultural worker exposure from higher rates of pesticide application; increases in pest control costs; disruption of ecologically sound pest control strategies; increased incidence of human, animal, and plant diseases in which transmission depends on insect vectors; and, in the most extreme case, the complete destruction of agricultural production systems on a local or regional basis.