Abstract—Termites are eusocial insects that are found on all continents except Antarctica. Termites have serious destructive impact, damaging local huts and crops of poor subsistence. The annual cost of termite damage and its control is determined in the billions globally. In Egypt, most of these damages are due to the subterranean termite species especially the sand termit hypostoma. Pyrethroids became the primary weapon for subterranean termite control, after the use of chlorpyrifos as a soil termiticide was
banned. Despite the important role of pyrethroids in termite control
its extensive use in pest control led to the eventual rise of insecticide
resistance which may make many of the pyrethroids ineffective. The
ability to diagnose the precise mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in
any insect species would be the key component of its management at
specified location for a specific population. In the present study,
detailed toxicological and biochemical studies was conducted on the
mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in P. hypostoma. The
susceptibility of field populations of P. hypostoma against
deltamethrin, α-cypermethrin and ƛ-cyhalothrin was evaluated. The
obtained results revealed that the workers of P. hypostoma have
developed high resistance level against the tested pyrethroids. Studies
carried out through estimation of detoxification enzyme activity
indicated that enhanced esterase and cytochrome P450 activities were
probably important mechanisms for pyrethroid resistance in field
populations. Elevated esterase activity and also additional esterase
isozyme were observed in the pyrethroid-resistant populations
compared to the susceptible populations. Strong positive correlation
between cytochrome P450 activity and pyrethroid resistance was also
reported. |Deltamethrin could be recommended as a resistancebreaking
pyrethroid that is active against resistant populations of P.
hypostoma.
Keywords—Psammotermes hypostoma, pyrethroid resistance,
esterase, cytochrome P450.
I. INTRODUCTION
ERMITES are serious pests that have a destructive
impact, damaging local building and crops of poor
farmers. Termites have destroyed villages in Egypt and India
and forced the native people to move to other area [1]. In
Egypt, most of these damages are due to the subterranean
termite species [2]. The sand termite, Pasmmotermes
hybostoma, was found mainly in Upper Egypt, fringes of
Sahara and oasis within the desert, whereas the sandy soil
supports some vegetation [3].
Mai. M. Toughan and Ahmed A. A. Sallam are with the Department of
Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag Egypt.
Ashraf O. Abd El-Latif is with the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty
of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag Egypt (corresponding author, e-mail:
ashrafoukasha@agr.sohag.edu.eg).
Chemical control is currently essential for management of
termite and is likely to remain an important component of
control strategies in the future. However, the most serious
threat to their continued effectiveness in the field is the
development of resistance. Knowledge of resistance
mechanism determines the use of resistance-breaking
compounds which is very important in resistance
management. Chlorpyrifos as a soil termiticide was heavily
used as soil treatment against P. hybostoma in Egypt. In the
last few years, new compounds were introduced to control P.
hybostoma in Egypt such as acetamiprid and thiamethoxam
[4]. However, many unpublished reports revealed that termite
has developed resistance to pyrethroid compounds which was
not been used for termite control in Egypt. Thus, the current
research was developed to study the status pyrethroid
resistance and its mechanism in the Egyptian populations of P.
hybostoma