LAUSR

BACKGROUND The wheat aphids, Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion miscanthi, are serious agricultural insect pests of many crops. Neonicotinoid insecticides are commonly used as alternatives to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides for controlling wheat aphids. RESULTS A long-term monitoring of resistance to imidacloprid and acetamiprid by R. padi and S. miscanthi was carried out from 2007 to 2019. For this study, a total of 344 of the two wheat aphids were collected from field populations found in the main wheat production areas in China, from 2007 to 2019. The resistant fluctuation recorded in R. padi was 14.7 times for imidacloprid and 1.4 times for acetamiprid; it was 9.7 times for imidacloprid and 6.5 times for acetamiprid, in S. miscanthi. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that both R. padi and S. miscanthi tended to have higher resistance to imidacloprid compared to acetamiprid. However, the ability of wheat aphids to develop a higher level of resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides generally will be difficult, given the control practices of wheat aphids in China. These results should be useful for the biorational application and resistance management of neonicotinoid insecticides.