Evidence for Decreasing Helicoverpa zea Susceptibility to Pyrethroid Insecticides in the Midwestern United States

Abstract

The corn earworm (CEW), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is a highly mobile pest of numerous field and vegetable crops in much of North America. In the Midwestern United States, CEW is a voracious pest of several high-value vegetable crops, including sweet corn, tomatoes, and snap beans, and seed corn grown for the field corn industry. Historically, synthetic pyrethroid insecticides have been cost-effective and have provided excellent control of CEW, with control of larvae in sweet corn exceeding 90%. However, since 2000 pyrethroids have only provided 35 to 45% control in field tests conducted in the Midwest, as indicated by small-plot sweet corn efficacy trials. During 2005, the four most commonly used pyrethroids averaged only 19.3 to 37.3% control of CEW (mean of 5 trials in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana). In addition, the survival of moths exposed to the standard pyrethroid, cypermethrin, using the Adult Vial Test (AVT), indicated high survival rates (44 to 66% at 5 μg cypermethrin and up to 45% survival at 10 μg). These levels are similar to, or higher than recent AVT results from Louisiana and Texas. These states reflect two possible “source” regions of late-season CEW that likely migrate north to the Midwestern states each summer. These results, including the stability of resistance each year in the Midwest, are discussed within the context of developing and expanding a North American resistance monitoring and management network. Accepted for publication 3 June 2007. Published 19 July 2007.