Resistance Monitoring of Field Populations of Panonychus citri to Three Pesticides

[Objectives]The paper was to investigate the development of Panonychus citri resistance to commonly used pesticides in major citrus producing areas in China,and to screen out new green and efficient agents for its control and prevention.[Methods]The resistance changes of field populations of P.citri to abamectin,pyridaben,and bifenazate in 12 locations across five provinces in China were compared using the leaf disc impregnation method.[Results]P.citri in the tested areas exhibited the most severe resistance to abamectin,with approximately 91.7%of the field populations showing high levels of resistance to abamectin(112.1-560.5 times);50%of P.citri populations exhibited high levels of resistance to pyridaben(123.0-202.7 times),while the remaining populations showed intermediate levels of resistance(25.6-80.3 times);except for the Zhejiang Xiangshan 2019 and Jiangxi Yudu 2019 populations,which exhibited a medium level of resistance to bifenazate,the remaining 10 monitored populations demonstrated a high level of resistance to bifenazate(140.4-686.1 times).[Conclusions]It is advisable to discontinue the use of abamectin and bifenazate due to significant resistance observed in populations of P.citri monitored in 12 locations across 5 provinces.It is recommended to reduce the frequency of pyridaben use and alternate with other acaricides that have different mechanisms of action due to the varying degrees of resistance developed.

Overview of Occurrence,Prevention and Control of Panonychus citri in China

In order to further promote the prevention and control research of Panonychus citri and improve its control effect,this paper summarizes the main influencing factors of the outbreak,main control technology and drug resistance of P.citri,and puts forward the research focus and control strategy.

Acaricidal Activity of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa Against Panonychus citri

Acaricidal activity of Boenninghausenia sessilicarpa against Panonychus cirri was tested in the laboratory. Four solvents were used to prepare crude extracts, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ethanol, among which ethanol was the most effective one. The results suggested that ethanol extracts of B. sessilicarpa had eminent acaricidal and ovicidal activities. Concentrated extracts were prepared using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, or distilled water as solvent. Mite mortality rates in the concentrated extracts by petroleum ether, chloroform, or distilled water were significantly lower than those by ethyl acetate. The LC50 values of eggs and female mites were 0.7639 and 1.1033 mg mL^-1, respectively. After liquid chromatography and thin layer chromatography, the concentrated extracts were separated into 14 groups of fractions and further tests for their acaricidal and ovicidal activities were conducted. Fraction 2 was found to possess higher acaricidal and ovicidal activities. The mortality of eggs and adult mites were 85.83 and 63.07%, respectively. Moreover, fraction 2 showed moderate oviposition inhibition effect （0.8795） against P. citri when the used dose was higher than 2.5 mg mL^-1

Analyses of Numerical Responses and Main Life Parameters for Determining the Suppression of Amblyseius cucumeris on Panonychus citri

In this paper, the numeral response and main parameters of experimental population life table were analyzed for determining the suppressing ability of Amblyseius cucumeris on Panonychus citri. The result showed that: (1) Under 21-31°C and 1 - 9 prey densities/leaf fragment condition, the prey consumptions of A. cucumeris increased with the temperature or prey density; (2) In 1:3 predator-prey ratio treatment, the suppression of P. citri (Ro=34.0053; T=19.4369; t=3.8204) was rather weak, it was enhanced as the ratio over 5:30, and the populations of P. citri in these treatments can be fully controlled within 4-5 days; (3) Under 25±1°C, 80-85% RH and 15L: 9D illumination conditions, the net reproductive rate, mean generation duration and the time for population double increase of P. citri (Ro=34.0053; T=19.4369; t=3.8204) were higher than those of A. cucumeris (Ro=21.8750; T=16.8943; t=3.7954). While the intrinsic rate of increase and finite rate of increase of the former (rm=0.1814; λ=1.1989) were lower than those of the latter (rm=0.1826; λ=1.2004). These results indicated that A. cucumeris is a desirable bio-control agent to suppress P. citri at lower population stage in citrus orchard.

Genome-wide analysis of Panonychus citrimicro RNAs witha focus on potential insecticidal activity of 4 micro RNAs toeggs and nymphs

Panonychus citriMcGregor(Acari:Tetranychidae),a destructive citrus pest,causes considerable annual economic losses due to its short lifespan and rapid resistancedevelopment.MicroRNA(miRNA)-induced RNA interference is a promising approachfor pest control because of endogenous regulation of pest growth and development.Tosearch for miRNAs with potential insecticidal activity inP.citri,genome-wide analysis ofmiRNAs at different developmental stages was conducted,resulting in the identificationof 136 miRNAs,including 73 known and 63 novel miRNAs.A total of 17 isomiRNAsand 12 duplicated miRNAs were characterized.MiR-1 and miR-252-5p were identified asreference miRNAs forP.citriandTetranychus urticae.Based on differential expressionanalysis,treatments with miR-let-7a and miR-315 mimics and the miR-let-7a antagomirsignificantly reduced the egg hatch rate and resulted in abnormal egg development.Over-expression or downregulation of miR-34-5p and miR-305-5p through feeding significantlydecreased the adult eclosion rate and caused molting defects.The 4 miRNAs,miR-let-7a,miR-315,miR-34-5p,and miR-305-5p,had important regulatory functions and insectici-dal properties in egg hatching and adult eclosion.In general,these data advance our un-derstanding of miRNAs in mite biology,which can assist future studies on insect-specificmiRNA-based green pest control technology.

Mutations of voltage-gated sodium channel contribute to pyrethroid resistance in Panonychus citri

Insecticide resistance in Panonychus citri is a major obstacle to mite control in citrus orchards.Pyrethroid insecticides are continually used to control mites in China,although resistance to pyrethroids has evolved in some populations.Here,the resistance to the pyrethroid fenpropathrin was investigated and 7 out of 8 field-collected populations of P citri exhibited a high level of resistance,ranging from 171-fold to 15391-fold higher than the susceptible(SS)comparison strain.Three voltage-gated sodium channel(VGSC)mutations were identified in the tested populations:L1031V,F1747L,and F17511.Amplicon sequencing was used to evaluate the frequency of these mutations in the 19 field populations.L1031V and F1751I were present in all populations at frequencies of 11.6%-82.1%and 0.5%-31.8%,respectively,whereas the F1747L mutation was only present in 12 populations from Chongqing,Sichuan,Guangxi,and Yunnan provinces.Introduction of these mutations singly or in combination into transgenic flies significantly increased their resistance to fenpropathrin and these flies also exhibited reduced mortality after exposure to the pyrethroids permethrin andβ-cypermethrin.Panonychus citri VGSC homology modeling and ligand docking indicate that F1747 and F1751 form direct binding contacts with pyrethroids,which are lost with mutation,whereas L1031 mutation may diminish pyrethroid effects through an allosteric mechanism.Overall,the results provide molecular markers for monitoring pest resistance to pyrethroids and offer new insights into the basis of pyrethroid actions on sodium channels.

SEASONAL PERFORMANCE AFFECTING POPULATION DYNAMICS OF CITRUS RED MITE, PANONYCHUS CITRI (MCGREGOR) (ACARI: TETRANYCHIDAE), ON PEAR

The population of the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (McGregor), does not increase on pear from spring to mid summer but thereafter increases abruptly. To elucidate this phenomenon, we compared the performance of the mites on pear leaves with that on citrus leaves, at different time throughout the pear growing season. No significant difference was detected between the oviposition rate on pear and that on citrus throughout the season. However, the survival rate of ovipositing females that had fed on pear and the hatch rate of eggs laid by those females were significantly lower than those for females that had fed on citrus, until August. However, no significant difference was observed thereafter. The results showed that the decline of the population of citrus red mite before autumn is due to the high mortality of adult females that had fed on pear leaves and the low hatch rate of the eggs produced by those females.