Contrasting susceptibility of lepidopteran pests to diamide and pyrethroid insecticides in a region of overwintering and migratory intersection

BACKGROUND Pesticide resistance is a growing issue worldwide, and susceptibility of pest populations should be monitored in migratory intersection regions for successful resistance management. We determined the susceptibility of eight noctuid species from the Florida Panhandle to bifenthrin (pyrethroid) and chlorantraniliprole (diamide). Larvae from field and laboratory populations were exposed to commercial insecticide formulations using the leaf‐dip method in concentration–mortality bioassays. RESULTS The field populations of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith), S. eridania (Stoll), S. exigua (Hubner) and Chloridea virescens (Fabricius) had reduced susceptibility to bifenthrin compared with the laboratory populations. Resistance ratios to bifenthrin were as high as 10 071‐fold in S. exigua and 436‐fold in S. frugiperda, while there was no reduced susceptibility in Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel). The susceptibility to chlorantraniliprole was similar between the field and laboratory populations studied, except for S. exigua that exhibited 630‐fold resistance to the diamide. The probit regression equations indicated that the larval mortality of S. exigua and S. frugiperda populations was