Susceptibility of the bird cherry‐oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae), to four insecticides

Abstract The bird‐cherry oat aphid ( Rhopalosiphum padi ) is a global pest, attacking most cereal crops including barley, wheat, oats and triticale. The aphids cause yield losses through direct feeding damage and the transmission of plant viruses. In Australia, feeding injury can reduce cereal yields by 6%, with the damage caused by aphid‐vectored viruses reducing the yield of cereal crops by up to 30%. Aphid control in these crops is achieved almost exclusively with insecticides, and there is growing concern surrounding insecticide resistance evolution in multiple aphid species. In this study, nine field populations of R. padi were collected from localities representing the major grain growing regions of Australia. Toxicity data against four insecticides (dimethoate, alpha‐cypermethrin, pirimicarb and imidacloprid) was generated for each aphid population. This revealed little differences in population responses for three of these insecticides. For alpha‐cypermethrin, a widely used insecticide in Australia, there were significant differences between several populations. These data will be important for future monitoring of insecticide responses of R. padi and highlight the impending pest management challenges growers could encounter in Australia.