Genetic study of nonavoidance of a pyrethroid residue by German cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

Pyrethroid-resistant German cockroaches settled on papers containing residues of a pyrethroid insecticide, Tempo 2. Insecticide-susceptible cockroaches, including nymphs of a field-collected strain (Navy 3), prowing nymphs, and curly-wing adult males, avoided the treated papers. Crosses between resistant and susceptible strains indicated that nonavoidance was inherited as a partially dominant trait. Data from crosses of F1 progeny with the susceptible Navy 3 strain fit a hypothesis of control by a single major gene. Segregation with Pw was indicative of linkage, but not of close linkage. Tests with Cu fit a hypothesis of independent segregation