No abstract

Soil testing is used by regulatory agencies to determine the adequacy of termiticide application by pest controllers. Because tests may be carried out years after treatment, an accurate knowledge of termiticide degradation rates is crucial if determinations are to be valid. Degradation of exposed residues of bifenthrin, chlorfenapyr, chlorpyrifos, fipronil and imidacloprid was investigated in a field trial conducted near Narrandera (inland New South Wales) and in Sydney. Samples of soil 75 mm deep were collected immediately after treatment and after 12 months from plots treated with termiticides to a minimum depth of 350 mm and analysed for termiticide residues. Bifenthrin and chlorfenapyr were the most persistent termiticides. Losses of chlorpyrifos exceeded 99% at both locations. Losses of fipronil and imidacloprid were 96% and 94%, respectively, at Narrandera and 67% and 50%, respectively, in Sydney. To explore the fate of chlorpyrifos, fipronil and imidacloprid in the soil profile at Narrandera, samples were collected 15 months after treatment to a depth of 450 mm, in 150 mm increments, from plots treated to a depth of 700 mm. In soil below 150 mm, chlorpyrifos and fipronil content was little changed from time of application whereas major losses of imidacloprid had occurred at all depths. These findings have implications for termite treatment regulation in Australia. Regulatory agencies have relied upon degradation rates observed in laboratory experiments to determine in situ treatment adequacy. Results of this field study suggest that termiticides can degrade more rapidly in situ than indicated by laboratory experiments.

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Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys Stål, 1855, is a polyphagous agricultural insect pest which causes serious production losses. BMSB also has human lifestyle impacts which arise from its habit of overwintering in homes. The invasiveness of BMSB and the harm it causes is making it a pest of increasing global importance. Over the past 30 years, the bug has spread from its native range in East Asia to North America and Europe. On November 2017 and January 2018, BMSBs were found at two Western Sydney locations in goods imported from northern Italy. While BMSB detections in imports are common in Australia, these encounters were significant because of sightings of bugs outside the infested premises, indicating possible spread into the local environment. Measures undertaken in Western Sydney to contain and eradicate BMSB included fumigation of infested goods, insecticide treatment of the warehouse site and surroundings and delimiting surveillance. Before commencing widespread surveillance, a vegetation survey was conducted to identify known host and potential BMSB host plants around the infested premises. ESRI Collector for ArcGIS™ was used to compile host plant location data which served as the basis for pheromone trap deployment and physical inspection. Surveillance continued until May 2018. No live BMSBs were detected. DNA analysis of dead BMSBs collected from infested goods discerned the presence of two different haplotypes (H): H1 (previously detected in North America, Europe and China) and H23 (North America and Japan).

Strains of Myzus persicae, collected from the Goulburn Valley, Victoria, and the Bathurst-Orange region, N.S.W., during 1988-89 and 89-90 were screened for resistance to demeton-S-methyl, pirimicarb, methamidophos and mcthomyl. Bioassay was used to determine levels of resistance to each chemical. Electrophoresis was used to determine the frequency of individual aphids with enhanced levels of the resistance conferring E4 carboxylesterase, which was assumed to be the resistance mechanism. Demeton-S-methyl resistance (RF range 14.8-40.0 x ) and pirimicarb resistance (RF range 7.5-20.2 X ) were detected in all strains tested by bioassay. Low level methamidophos resistance was detected (RF range 2.9-4.2 x ) in three of the seven strains tested. However, methomyl resistance was not detected in any strain.