Insecticide susceptibility status in three medically important species of mosquitoes, Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus, from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Karnataka, India

BACKGROUND: Development of resistance among mosquito vectors of diseases is of growing concern in many countries of the subtropics, including much of India. The distributions of susceptibility/resistance to insecticides are scarcely recorded and are unknown in many parts of India. This manuscript reports the susceptibility status among strains of Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus collected from different geographical areas of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka, to six conventionally used insecticides. RESULTS: An. stephensi, Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus from different geographic areas showed susceptibility towards temephos. However, susceptibility was meagre for most of the other insecticides used in the study. Strong resistance to propoxur was reported in Ullala (RR90 = 467.1) and Bannerghatta (RR90 = 12 265) populations of An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti respectively. RR90 = 12 830 was recorded as higher in the Yelahanka (YLK) population of Cx. quinquefasciatus to neem. Significant differences at LC50 and LC90 concentrations were observed against various insecticides in different mosquito populations. Resistance was observed against some of the larvicides for the diagnostic dose recommended by WHO. CONCLUSION: The results form baseline data on the susceptibility status of three medically important mosquito vectors of diseases to commonly used insecticides in the field at present emphasise the importance of carrying out more effective and planned vector control measures. Copyright (C) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry