Differences in the Susceptibility to Commercial Insecticides among Populations of the Lesser Mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus Collected from Poultry Houses in France.

David Renault,Hervé Colinet

doi:10.3390/insects12040309

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus is a major pest from poultry houses worldwide. There was suspicion that populations of A. diaperinus had developed resistance to insecticides in poultry farms in France. Here, we evaluate the insecticide susceptibility of adult A. diaperinus from ten populations sampled from different poultry farms. The insects were exposed to four commercial insecticides: two pyrethroids, one pyrethroid/neonicotinoid and one organophosphate. Our results strongly suggest the occurrence of resistance to pyrethroid-based formulations in some farm populations from Brittany (France).The control of insect pests often relies on the recurrent application of insecticides. This is the case for the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, an invasive beetle infesting poultry farms. There is evidence that A. diaperinus can develop resistance to several insecticides. Evaluation of such resistance has never been conducted in France, despite the beetle’s presence since the 1970s. We assess insecticide susceptibility in 10 populations from French poultry farms and compare patterns with two susceptible populations. Adults are subjected to short-term exposures (4 h) to four commercial insecticides and their recovery is assessed. Temporal survival also is scored during constant exposures for seven days. Clear-cut differences among the farm populations are found. Except for three populations that have patterns similar to those of the two susceptible populations, all the other farm populations have a much greater capacity to recover and survive insecticide exposures, especially to pyrethroid-based formulations. Three populations in particular even exhibit clear signs of resistance to pyrethroids, with median lethal times more than 10-fold superior to values of the susceptible population. No insect in any population recovers from the pirimiphos-methyl exposure, and all beetles are apparently dead after 15 h. Our results demonstrate the existence of resistant populations to pyrethroids in Brittany France.

Highlights

Many insect species are incurring significant costs and losses to agricultural production [1]
Most populations from poultry farms were less susceptible to pyrethroid-based formulations compared to susceptible populations that had been maintained in a pesticide-free environment for many generations
Except for Pop2, Pop4, and Pop10, which were characterized by survival patterns roughly similar to that of the susceptible populations, all other populations had a much greater capacity to recover and survive insecticide exposure

Summary

Introduction

Many insect species are incurring significant costs and losses to agricultural production [1]. The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), a major pest from poultry houses worldwide, is not an exception (e.g., [7,8]). The lesser mealworm is native to sub-Saharan regions [9], and was dispersed across the globe via the international foodstuff trade [10,11,12], in stored products in the form of rice and cereals in which it thrives [7,13,14,15,16]. A. diaperinus, by infesting poultry farms, can be eaten by chickens [17], resulting in nutritional stress due to the limited capacity of birds to digest the chitin of insects [18]. A. diaperinus, by hosting a range of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, S. typhimurium, Campylobacter jejuni) [19,20,21,22]

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