Project Overview:
Cereal aphids, including the English grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) and the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) are herbivorous insect pests of global importance. Cereal aphids can cause extensive damage to economically important arable crops, including wheat and barley. Yield loss can be caused via direct feeding damage (losses of up to 20%) and, more significantly, by the transmission of plant viruses (yield losses can be up to and in excess of 80%). The most important virus transmitted by cereal aphids is barley yellow dwarf virus. Management and control of aphids is routinely achieved through the application of insecticides, with pyrethroids representing the most common class applied for aphid control. However, over recent years resistance against pyrethroids has appeared in many aphid species of agricultural and horticultural importance, including the broad-spectrum pest, the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae) and S. avenae.
Decreased sensitivity to insecticides is an early indicator that insecticide resistance is emerging within a population. In this project, we investigated the status of pyrethroid sensitivity/resistance in UK cereal aphid populations, with the overall aim of updating what is known on the status of resistance to pyrethroids in UK cereal aphid populations.
Cereal aphids, including the English grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) and the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) are herbivorous insect pests of global importance. Cereal aphids can cause extensive damage to economically important arable crops, including wheat and barley. Yield loss can be caused via direct feeding damage (losses of up to 20%) and, more significantly, by the transmission of plant viruses (yield losses can be up to and in excess of 80%). The most important virus transmitted by cereal aphids is barley yellow dwarf virus. Management and control of aphids is routinely achieved through the application of insecticides, with pyrethroids representing the most common class applied for aphid control. However, over recent years resistance against pyrethroids has appeared in many aphid species of agricultural and horticultural importance, including the broad-spectrum pest, the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae) and S. avenae.
Decreased sensitivity to insecticides is an early indicator that insecticide resistance is emerging within a population. In this project, we investigated the status of pyrethroid sensitivity/resistance in UK cereal aphid populations, with the overall aim of updating what is known on the status of resistance to pyrethroids in UK cereal aphid populations.
No evidence of emerging pyrethroid resistance in UK Bird Cherry-Oat aphid populations
In this project, 21 bird cherry-oat aphid populations were sampled from across the UK in 2019 and 2020 and pyrethroid dose-response bio-assays were conducted. All of these populations showed bio-assay responses similar to those observed in pyrethroid-susceptible populations, indicating that there is no significant shift in sensitivity from that seen in recent years.
In this project, 21 bird cherry-oat aphid populations were sampled from across the UK in 2019 and 2020 and pyrethroid dose-response bio-assays were conducted. All of these populations showed bio-assay responses similar to those observed in pyrethroid-susceptible populations, indicating that there is no significant shift in sensitivity from that seen in recent years.