Development of a Protocol to Determine and Mitigate the Evolution of Insecticide Resistance in Russian Wheat Aphid Populations in Wheat Production Areas of South Africa

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Russian wheat aphid (RWA) occurs mainly on wheat, and this insect has the potential to cause considerable damage to cultivated wheat globally. Because of the damage caused by RWA feeding, it is important to have an effective management strategy in place against RWA. Management practices used successfully against RWA in the past were chemical control and breeding for the deployment of RWA-resistant wheat. For continued success of these management practices, it is necessary to monitor the distribution of RWA populations in response to these management practices. The distribution of RWA populations was surveyed, and RWA samples were collected in the wheat production areas of South Africa during 2023. RWA clone colonies were established from field-collected samples. Insecticide resistance of RWA clone populations was determined by screening against the active ingredient, dimethoate. There was a decrease in susceptibility of RWA populations to dimethoate in areas where chemical control was used. Despite implementation of management practices, RWA populations still occur in the wheat production areas of South Africa and therefore continue to pose a threat to the wheat industry. It is important that future management practices focus on sustainable practices instead of indiscriminate use of insecticides to control RWA.