Occurrence of Dieldrin-resistance in Wild Musca domestica L. in England

Abstract

THE ability of insects to develop a resistance to an insecticide is now widely acknowledged. It has also been shown that, where resistance to a specific insecticide exists, the toxicity of related compounds can be tolerated also, though probably to a lesser extent. This communication reports the occurrence of a high degree of resistance to dieldrin (an insecticidal product containing not less than 85 per cent of 1,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-6,7-epoxy-1,4,4a,5,6,7,8a-octahydro-1,4,5,8-dimethanonaphthalene, and not more than 15 per cent of insecticidally active related compounds), in a wild strain of Musca domestica L. which had not been exposed to this insecticide prior to this investigation.