The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Homoptera: Aphididae), is a major sucking pest in numerous agricultural and horticultural settings worldwide. It damages crops by feeding, as a virus vector, and by honeydew excretions facilitating the growth of sooty mold, i.e., ascomycete fungi. To keep aphid pressure under economic damage thresholds, large scale insecticide treatments have a long tradition. Several chemical classes of synthetic insecticides addressing different biochemical modes of action have been introduced to control M. persicae over the past 70 years. These include organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, and neonicotinoid insecticides. The insecticide pressure on M. persicae was and is still high in many cropping systems resulting in the selection of genotypes surviving such treatments as a consequence of toxicodynamic and pharmacokinetic adaptions. In this presentation, special attention is given to recently-discovered biochemical mechanisms of resistance to neonicotinoids, a chemical class of insecticides selectively binding to insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Aphid ecology, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mutation, and an overexpressed cytochrome P450 monooxygenase are the principal characters in a special case of the evolution of insecticide resistance.

Tale about an aphid and its insecticide-driven upgrade: <i>Myzus persicae</i> version 4.0

246th National Meeting (2013)

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Tale about an aphid and its insecticide-driven upgrade: Myzus persicae version 4.0