LOCAL AND REGIONAL RESISTANCE TO FENVALERATE IN PSYLLA PYRICOLA FOERSTER (HOMOPTERA: PSYLLIDAE) IN WESTERN NORTH AMERICA

Abstract

AbstractFenvalerate resistance was monitored in Psylla pyricola Foerster populations at 51 sites in Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia during early 1988. Resistance levels ranged from susceptible in an organic orchard in the Willamette Valley, OR, and at several other sites in Oregon and California, to highly resistant (> 100-fold compared with a susceptible strain) at several sites in central Washington. Generally, resistance levels were greater in the north than the south. In the Wenatchee and Yakima/Ellensburg, WA, areas, pyrethroid resistance was areawide, showing similar levels in both heavily treated and untreated orchards. In the Willamette Valley, OR, pyrethroid resistance was local and more consistent with the treatment histories of individual orchards. Factors influencing regional resistance appeared to be the species pool size of resistant and susceptible pear psylla, the intensity of spraying, and the unique host plant, life cycle, and dispersal attributes of this pest. Reasons for high regional resistance in central Washington and not in southerly areas are unknown, but this pattern is consistent with earlier patterns of insecticide resistance in pear psylla. The observed trends in fenvalerate resistance are discussed in relation to limiting resistance in pear psylla.