Stage-Specific Expression of Resistance to Different Acaricides in Four Field Populations of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is a worldwide crop pest. The resistance to commonly applied acaricides (in this report, "acaricide" refers to both acaricides and insecticides that are toxic to mites) has seriously impaired T. urticae control in the field. Here, the sensitivity of eggs, larvae, and adults of laboratory and field populations of T. urticae to various acaricides was investigated. Based on data obtained with an acaricide-sensitive laboratory strain collected in 2009, abamectin was the most toxic of the tested acaricides. For each acaricide, susceptibility was greatest for larvae, least for adults, and intermediate for eggs. The egg was the most sensitive stage to abamectin, bifenazate, and hexythiazox; the larva was the most sensitive stage to abamectin, hexythiazox, bifenazate, propargite, and chlorfenapyr; and the adult was the most sensitive stage to abamectin, bifenazate, and chlorfenapyr. Based on the results obtained with the acaricide-sensitive laboratory strain, acaricides were selected to test against eggs, larvae, and adults of four field populations of T. urticae from Beijing, China. Although the field populations differed in their resistance to the acaricides in laboratory bioassays, the eggs, larvae, and adults of the four populations were sensitive to bifenazate and highly resistant to abamectin. Field trials for control of T. urticae in Beijing, China, should be conducted with bifenazate and other acaricides rather than with abamectin.