PYRETHROID RESISTANCE IN PEAR PSYLLA, PSYLLA PYRICOLA FOERSTER (HOMOPTERA: PSYLLIDAE), AND SYNERGISM OF PYRETHROIDS WITH PIPERONYL BUTOXIDE

Adult pear psylla, Psylla pyricola Foerster, from commercial pear orchards near Wenatchee, WA, were tested using a slide-dip technique for susceptibility to fenvalerate over a 5-year period from 1984 to 1988. Results were compared with those from similar tests using psyllids from an unexposed population near Corvallis, OR. During 5 years, resistance of adults to fenvalerate increased by 16- to 32-fold at Wenatchee while that of the Corvallis population did not change. In 1988, tests with five pyrethroids and pyrethroid – piperonyl butoxide combinations indicated that pear psylla adults also were resistant to permethrin and flucythrinate but not to fenpropathrin or cyfluthrin which contain a cyano group that reduces their susceptibility to oxidase metabolism. Piperonyl butoxide synergism was proportional to the level of resistance, indicating that resistance is probably due to increased mixed function oxidase activity. Implications of this study to control of post-diapause winter form adults in commercial pear orchards is discussed.