Pesticide resistance of Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Acari: Tetranychidae) in China: a review

This paper reviews the development of pesticide resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) and studies on the genetics and management of pesticide resistance in China. This mite has developed resistance to at least 25 pesticides in China. It first developed resistance to parathion and demeton. As early as 1962, the level of resistance to demeton in T. cinnabarinus reached 62 times, which resulted in control failure of this mite on cotton in most cotton growing areas in China. The genetics of omethoate-resistance and monocrotophos-resistance in T. cinnabarinus is each controlled by an incompletely dominant gene and the development of resistance is therefore rapid. The developmental time and other life table parameters of T. cinnabarinus are altered when the mite becomes pesticide-resistant: life cycle becomes shorter and reproductive rate becomes greater. This is another reason for the rapid development of pesticide resistance in T. cinnabarinus. Pesticide resistance may be managed by rotational use of pesticides, biological control and other methods.