Techniques to detect insecticide resistance mechanisms (Field and laboratory manual)

Overview

 Insecticide resistance is an increasing problem faced by those who need insecticides to efficiently control medical, veterinary and agricultural insect pests. In many insects, the problem extends to all four major groups of insecticides. Resistance monitoring programmes should no longer rely on testing the response to one insecticide, with the intention of switching to another chemical when resistance levels rise above the threshold which affects disease control. Effective resistance management depends on early detection of the problem and rapid assimilation of information on the resistant insect population so that rational pesticide choices can be made.

The correct use of biochemical or immunological methods for resistance detection at a mechanistic level can provide a powerful tool for analyzing field and laboratory populations with the aim of improving resistance detection and management. This manual will be updated with new technologies and methodologies, as they become available. It attempts to outline the basic techniques and discusses their strengths and weaknesses. Clearly the biochemical assays provide more information about the insect population being analysed, but they also require more skill in interpretation, and those using this manual are urged to read the sections on interpretation of results carefully.