Insecticide Resistance in Helicoverpa armigera (Hiibner) in Punjab, India

Resistance in the larvae of Helicoverpa armigera Hiibner collected from cotton and non-cotton growing areas of Punjab to cypermethrin, fenvalerate, endosulfan, quinalphos and methomyl was determined. Significant level of multiple resistance was detected in pest population from cotton growing areas, using topically-applied discriminating doses of insecticides. Resistance manifested to synthetic pyrethroids was of higher order as compared to other insecticides tested. By using leaf-disc bioassay method, the level of resistance to cypermethrin and chlorpyriphos ranged from 3 to 5 and 1.3 to 3 folds, respectively, compared to the Hoshiarpur populations. The studies also showed that fifth instar larvae were 17 times more tolerant to chlorpyriphos than the first instar larvae of H. armigera.