INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE IN Bemisia tabaci (GENN.) POPULATIONS COLLECTED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN AND AEGEAN REGIONS OF TURKEY

In this study, the resistance status to imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin and endosulfan of twenty Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) populations collected in Hatay, Adana, Mersin, Antalya, Mugla, Aydin and Denizli provinces in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey in 2005-2006 were investigated. The lethal concentration (LC) values for each population were determined by the leaf dipping method. The resistance ratios were calculated by dividing the LC50 values of the populations by the LC50 values of a susceptible population. The LC50 values of the B. tabaci populations to imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin and endosulfan were found to be in the ranges of 0.1-8.5, 0.7-232.9 and 0.9-21.4 mg ai (=active ingredients)/l, respectively. The imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin and endosulfan resistance ratios were 1-95, 1-439 and 4-102 times, respectively. Generally, the resistance ratio against the lambda-cyhalothrin were higher than against imidacloprid and endosulfan. In addition, in the Kumluca and Demre B. tabaci populations from greenhouses, resistance to the 3 insecticides was found to be between medium and high levels. Based on the results, we determined that a significant proportion of the B. tabaci populations in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions are resistant to the active substances in neonicotinoids, pyrethroids and cyclodiene organochlorines.