Influence of seasonal migration on the development of the insecticide resistance of oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) to λ‐cyhalothrin

BACKGROUND The seasonal long‐distance migration of pests amongst different seasonal habitats may encounter different degrees of insecticide selection pressure, but knowledge of the evolution of resistance and the underlying mechanisms remains sparse. Here, we show that the development of resistance of the oriental armyworm Mythimna separata (Walker), a notorious agricultural pest that migrates between northern and northeast China seasonally across the Bohai Gulf, is influenced by seasonal migration. RESULTS There are two conspicuous migrations of M. separata, the northeastwards population in the second half of May and the returning population in the second half of August, between northern and northeast China per year, and the abundance values of migrants from April to October are significantly different. The resistance levels of seasonal migratory populations to λ‐cyhalothrin vary in different months, and the resistance levels and estimated frequency of the resistance allele of the first northeastward population (second half of May, May.‐2) in spring are significantly higher than those of the returning populations in autumn. Moreover, resistance decline was observed in migrating population Jul.‐2, with the resistance levels in the F1 progeny higher than those in their F2 progeny. Synergism tests indicate that cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) play a major role in resistance. Enzymatic assays show that P450 activity is significantly correlated with resistance levels in migratory populations, indicating that increased P450 activity is the main mechanism of resistance. The expression levels and correlation analysis of the relative expression of P450s with resistance levels show that three (CYP9A144, CYP9G40, and CYP6B79) out of 23 genes from CYP6 and CYP9 subfamilies are potentially involved in resistance to λ‐cyhalothrin. CONCLUSION Our results show that the resistance of M. separata to λ‐cyhalothrin is unstable and likely to be metabolically driven by enhanced P450 activity mediated by the overexpression of multiple P450 genes. Notably, the development of resistance is probably affected by seasonal migration. We report that the development of resistance of the oriental armyworm Mythimna separata (Walker), a notorious agricultural pest that migrates between northern and northeast China seasonally across the Bohai Gulf in China, is influenced by seasonal migration. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.