The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii is an economically significant insect pest infesting various important crops and vegetables. The neonicotinoid, acetamiprid was recommended against aphids with excellent results. Resistance emergence and environmental pollution makes acetamiprid a favorable alternative to conventional insecticides. The aims of the present work were to predict acetamiprid resistance risk in A. gossypii, investigate cross resistance to other tested insecticides and explore acetamiprid stability in the absence of selection. A field-collected population from Sharqia governorate, Egypt was selected with acetamiprid. After 16 generations of selection, there was a 22.55-fold increase in LC50 and the realized heritability (h2) of resistance was 0.17. Projected rates of resistance indicated that, if h2 = 0.17 and 50% of the population was killed at each generation, then a tenfold increase in LC50 would be expected in 12.2 generations. If h2 was 0.27 then 7.63 generations would be needed to achieve the same level. In contrast, with h2 of 0.07 it necessitates about 30 generations of selection to reach the same level. Cross resistance studies exhibited that the selected strain showed obvious cross resistance to the other tested neonicotinoid members, moderate cross resistance to alpha-cypermethrin and no cross resistance to pymetrozine. Fortunately, resistance to acetamiprid in the cotton aphid was unstable and resistance reverses the nearby susceptible strain throughout five generations without exposure to acetamiprid. Our results exhibited cotton aphid potential to develop resistance to acetamiprid under continuous selection pressure. The instability of acetamiprid makes A. gossypii amenable to resistance management tactics such as rotation with pymetrozine.

Development and demography of Adalia decempunctata L. were studied under laboratory conditions at seven constant temperatures (12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32 and 36°C). First instar larvae failed to develop to second instar at 12°С and no development occurred at 36°C. The total developmental time varied from 47.92 days at 16°C to 15.94 days at 28°C and increased at 32°C. The lower temperature thresholds of 11.05 and 9.90°C, and thermal constants of 290.84 day-degree and 326.34 day-degree were estimated by traditional and Ikemoto-Takai linear models, respectively. The lower temperature threshold (Tmin) values estimated by Analytis, Briere-1, Briere-2 and Lactin-2 for total immature stages were 11.99, 12.24, 10.30 and 10.8°C, respectively. The estimated fastest developmental temperatures (Tfast) by the Analytis, Briere-1, Briere-2 and Lactin-2 for overall immature stages development of A. decempunctata were 31.5, 31.1, 30.7 and 31.7°C, respectively. Analytis, Briere-1, Briere-2 and Lactin-2 measured the upper temperature threshold (Tmax) at 33.14, 36.65, 32.75 and 32.61°C. The age-stage specific survival rate (sxj) curves clearly depicted the highest and lowest survival rates at 16 and 32°C for males and females. The age-specific fecundity (mx) curves revealed higher fecundity rate when fed A. gossypii at 24 and 28°C. The highest and lowest values of intrinsic rate of increase (r) were observed at 28 and 16°C (0.1945 d–1 and 0.0592 d–1, respectively). Also, the trend of changes in the finite rate of increase (λ) was analogous with intrinsic rate of increase. The longest and shortest mean generation time (T) was observed at 16 and 28°C, respectively and the highest net reproductive rates (R0) was estimated at 24 and 28°C. According to the results, the most suitable temperature seems to be 28°C due to the shortest developmental time, highest survival rate, and highest intrinsic rate of increase.