Certain Colorado potato beetle populations have developed resistance to approximately 56 common insecticides, but not everything is lost
The most complex feature of the Colorado potato beetle is its extraordinary ability to develop rapid resistance to conventional insecticides, thanks to many natural mechanisms, including enhanced metabolism, increased excretion (elimination of toxins) and less insecticides due to the strong armor of the shell, say entomologists Mark Milensky and Manuel Campos from BioSafe Systems in a recent article published in Potato Country.
Milensky and Campos say that many traditional insecticides showed a rapid decrease in efficiency, while different populations of the Colorado potato beetle in different geographical regions developed and continue to develop a known resistance to approximately 56 conventional insecticides.
For example, this group includes carbamates, organophosphates, synthetic pyrethroids / pyrethrins, and neonicotinoids. There is also evidence that Colorado potato beetles develop behavioral resistance, which means that larvae and / or adults especially migrate outside the treated areas where they have gained insecticide resistance.
At the moment, although there is no single effective insecticide or a real program for 100% suppression of the Colorado potato beetle, scientists are trying to find new strategies to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle.
Some of these new tools show promising results when included in the integrated pest management programs.
Products that have received a good rating in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle are mycoinsecticides containing fungus beauveria bassianaand botanical insect growth regulators made from plant extracts such as azadirachtin.
(Source: potatonewstoday.com).