Insecticide resistance is increasing in growing populations of insects around the world and it is reducing the effectiveness of pesticides that have been used for many decades. Resistance to pesticides is caused by a combination of natural selection factors, misuse or overuse of pesticides and through an increase in environmentally controlled settings that are used to grow foods and plants. Does this Spark an idea?
Identification
Insect resistance is a condition in insect populations which has been associated with the use of pesticides. Traditional pesticides that once worked miracles on controlling populations of insects and mites have now become largely useless as the insects developed a resistance to the pesticides with time. Resistant insects are either unaffected by the pesticide or they are able to live long enough to successfully reproduce even if pesticides are in their environment.
Insect Resistance and Natural Selection
The cause of insect resistance has been largely attributed to the process of natural selection. This process occurs because of the differences in traits within an insect species that are the result of minor genetic differences. For example, within a population of bedbugs there may be a few bedbugs that are born with thicker exoskeletons. These minor differences in traits contribute to a selection process whereas some insects in a population are born with an ability to resist a pesticide; these insects live to reproduce and in time they make up the majority of the insect population leading to widespread insect resistance.
Forms of Resistance
Insect populations may develop different types of pesticide resistance within their own populations. These insects are born with the ability to resist pesticides in ways that could include the ability to store the pesticide in their bodies without effects, the ability to excrete pesticide toxins from their bodies, the ability to break down pesticide toxins in their bodies, the ability to avoid the pesticide or the ability to reduce absorption of and exposure to the pesticide through changes in their exoskeleton. A particular form of insect resistance known as knockdown resistance has occurred in insects resistant to insecticides pyrethroid and DDT; insects that have knockdown resistance have been found to have decreased sensitivity in their nervous system to these insecticides.
Overuse/Misuse of Pesticide Applications
Overuse and misuse of pesticides are a driving force of the development of insect resistance. Using pesticides in high concentrations or using them at times of the year or in areas where they are not supposed to be used contribute to an increase in resistant insects which quickly reproduce to form large resistant populations. Using the same type of pesticide over and over again without periodically switching to other forms of pesticides will also create strong populations of resistant insects.
Controlled Environments and Insect Resistance
Resistant insect populations which may have been killed by outside environment factors such as weather or predators easily thrive in greenhouse environments and have the opportunity to reproduce throughout the year. Controlled environments that use insect pesticides contribute to insect resistant populations, especially when the populations escape or are released from their controlled environment. Insects that reside in these settings have higher reproduction rates and any resistant members of their populations quickly reproduce to form larger resistant populations.
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