Management of an Insecticide-Resistant House Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Population by the Strategic Use of a Benzylphenol Chemosterilant1

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Abstract
Laboratory tests were performed on a strain of Musca domestica L. from the Mission, Tex., screwworm rearing plant which had previously shown insecticide resistance to propoxur, coumaphos, and DDT. The application of the benzylphenol chemosterilant J2644 [2,4-bis (1,1-dimethyl)-6-(4-methoxyphenyl methyl) phenol] to 6-day-old females (physiologically mature) reduced egg hatchability to 1 to 3%, but 2- to 4-day-old females were less affected (59 to 65% egg hatchability). However, females in the second ovipositional cycle were fertile. Males were not affected. When house fly populations breeding within the Mission rearing plant and Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, rearing plant were treated with 1% (wt/wt) J2644, egg hatchability declined from 73 to 2% in 8 days and from 86 to 5% in 6 days, respectively. The number of house flies collected at survey sites declined to near 0 within 3 to 5 weeks after treatment started.