PhD Student University of Illinois Champaign, Illinois
Mosquitoes are major vectors of disease and thus a major concern for public health globally. Currently the most effective way to control for these vectors is with the use of insecticides. However, insecticide use can easily lead to the development of resistance. It is important to understand and monitor the level of susceptibility that local mosquito populations have to insecticides so that both local abatement districts and public health departments will be able to make the most informed decisions if an outbreak occurs. Culex pipiens and Culex restuans are common mosquito species found in Illinois and primary vectors of West Nile virus. To better understand the levels of insecticide resistance of the Culex populations, egg collections were made throughout the state from 2018-2020. Eggs collected were reared under constant laboratory conditions and adults were tested for insecticide resistance using the CDC’s bottle bioassay protocol. Results from the bottle assays show that resistance is common in Illinois, but the degree of resistance is highly variable. These results will be contrasted with data on the presence of a sodium channel gene mutation associated with knockdown resistance and measurements of the levels of detoxification enzymes.