Cumulative and sensitisation effects of repeated applications of methomyl to the housefly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae)

Abstract

AbstractRepeated sublethal doses of methomyl and certain of its analogues have been found fully cumulative against adult Musca domestica L. Successive dose treatments were at least as effective as, and in many cases more effective than, a single dose treatment of equivalent amount. Treatment with sublethal doses of methomyl also enhanced the efficacy of insecticides of other chemical groups applied subsequently. The cumulative effect is not due to persistence of the compound in the tissues, to interference with the detoxification mechanism for the insecticides or to prolonged inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Only a very tentative explanation can be suggested at present.