Factors Influencing Resistance in Allium sp. to Onion Maggot

Abstract

The onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meigen), is believed to have originated in the palearctic region. It had spread to North America by the middle of the 19th century and it is now a serious pest in many onion-growing areas of the United States, Canada, Europe, and parts of Asia. Scott (1969) provided a general bibliography of this pest since its original description in 1826. The importance of the onion maggot increased rapidly when it developed resistance to organochlorine insecticides in the late 1950's and early 1960's. These compounds have been phased out almost completely and they have been replaced by 2 less-persistent groups of compounds, the organophosphorus insecticides and the carbamates. The lack of persistence enables mid- and late-season maggots to damage the crops. In addition, the pest has already developed low but significant levels of resistance to several currently recommended compounds (Harris and Svec 1976).