Reproductive Ability Enhancement of Housefly (Musca domestica Linn) (Diptera : Muscidae) through Hormesis by Application of Sublethal Doses of Imidacloprid and Permethrin

Abstract

Application of insecticide is the most common method to reduce the housefly population. However, in general, not all individual received lethal dose of insecticide. This condition could produce a favorable biological responses, such as increasing the reproductive ability, known as hormesis. This study was carried out to observe the effect of application of sublethal concentrations (LC50) or dosage (LD50) of imidacloprid and permethrin to reproductive ability of resistant strains of house fly. The responses were assessed for 10 generations to simulate the long term effect. The results showed that house flies received application of LD5 of permethrin increased their fecundity (17.05% more than application of LD15 and 56.39% more than control) and the fertility (26.73% more than application of LD15 and 63.62% more than control). On the other hand, application of LC5 of much imidacloprid also increased fecundity of housefly (10.46% more than application LC15 and 45.91% more than control) and the fertility (17.08% more than application LC15 and 49.17% more than control). It could be concluded that administration of sublethal doses of permethrin and much newer imidacloprid may induce reproductive hormesis in the housefly through increasing fecundity and fertility.