Collier County Mosquito Control District’s Dr. Keira Lucas has become one of the most trusted authorities on mosquito insecticide resistance in the southeastern United States. At the Global Mosquito Resistance Management Summit in March 2022, Lucas provided attendees with an insightful presentation on her District’s approach to monitoring and managing resistance.
Lucas informed the audience that Collier County is home to more than 50 different mosquito species. While her talk focused mainly on the container inhabiting Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus species; Lucas was clear that the District targets both disease vectoring and nuisance mosquitoes, and that when treating, it tailors its integrated management approach to the specific mosquito being targeted.“I do want to point out that a lot of labels for pyrethroid-based materials specify a requirement for resistance monitoring. I always suggest that if you are using a material that does require that, you should have a resistance monitoring program in place.”
To accomplish this, the District needs accurate data as to what species are resistant to what controls, and how widespread the resistant populations extend. For that purpose, in 2021, the District collected an estimated 900,000 mosquitoes.
“I do want to point out that a lot of labels for pyrethroid-based materials specify a requirement for resistance monitoring. I always suggest that if you are using a material that does require that, you should have a resistance monitoring program in place.”
Dr. Lucas walked the audience through their use of the CDC bioassay – with and without inhibitors – and provided a summary of the levels of resistance found for the most important species. She reviewed illuminating data from one project where they learned that an important kdr (knockdown resistance) mutation (1014f) was present in a higher frequency in urban areas, then declined in more rural areas.
Lucas closed her discussion by walking the audience through the District’s journey over the last six years. She reported that before adopting an integrated management approach in 2016, there was one year where the District applied more than 14,000 gallons of dibrom. Today, the District relies more heavily on larviciding, which decreases the need for adulticiding, and by extension, reduces adulticide applications.
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More presentation summaries from the Global Resistance Management Summit:
- Insecticide Resistance and Resistance Mechanisms
- Review of Resistance in US Mosquitoes
- Molecular Drivers of Resistance in Malaria Vectors
- Surveillance of Resistance of Aedes aegypti in Mexico
- Susceptibility Status of Mosquito Insecticides in Asia
- Life after Insecticide Resistance is Detected
- Resistance Challenges and Answers
- Transient Tolerance to Pyrethroids in Gravid Mosquitoes
- Resistance Status & Management in Collier County, FL
