Laboratory Populations: Is It Representative for Bioassays in Relation to Field Populations of Oriental Fruit Moth?

The use of laboratory insects for physiological studies, both genetic and toxicological, has become very common, but the continuous strains available in the laboratory for several generations without the insertion of genetic material can change the wild phenotypic and behavioral characteristics of the population compared with the field population. The aim of this research was to evaluate susceptility of field and laboratory Oriental Fruit Moth populations with the insecticide, based in toxicological, biochemical, and physicochemical characteristics. Experiments were conducted with four groups of chemical insecticides serving as chlorpyrifos, carbaryl, deltamethrin, and tebufenozide, with seven concentrations defined after pilot testing. Thereafter, the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AchE), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) was evaluated. It was possible to detect differences between populations with regard to carbaryl and chlorpyrifos insecticides. The infrared analysis showed that the populations were distinct from each other, and they exhibit high activity of GST and AchE. The populations from both the field and the laboratory are different in their susceptibility to insecticides.