Impact of temperature on susceptible and resistant strains of Culex quinquefasciatus to synthetic pyrethroids

Effect of temperature on the physiological activity and resistance status of Culex quinquefasciatus was studied. The LT50 (lethal time) of deltamethrin, lambdacyhalothrin resistant and susceptible 4th-instar larvae decreased with increasing temperature. The LT50 of deltamethrin resistant strains was significantly lower than the susceptible strains but not so in lambdacyhalothrin resistant strains. The developmental period of the thermal exposed and non-exposed larvae of resistant strains were nearly equal, however a significant difference was observed in case of susceptible strain. The thermal exposed susceptible larvae developed 3.3 days faster than the thermal un-exposed population. The percentage of survival of thermal exposed and un-exposed resistant strains were nearly equal. However, the thermal exposed population survived 12.9% less than the thermal un-exposed susceptible population. Longevity of thermal exposed deltamethrin and lambdacyhalothrin resistant females was significantly higher than the un-exposed population. The longevity of thermal exposed susceptible population was lower than the un-exposed population. The resistance of both the deltamethrin and lambdacyhalothrin resistant strains increased when exposed to high temperature for 3 h. The difference in longevity between thermal un-exposed and exposed resistant male population was not significantly different. Among the un-exposed population, highest pupation was recorded in the susceptible strains, and lowest in the deltamethrin resistant strain. The fact that the thermal exposed resistant strains were more successful than the un-exposed population could be related to the presence of resistant gene.