First report of pyrethroid resistance in Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus larvae (Say, 1821) from Iran

•This is the first report of pyrethroid resistance in Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus from Iran.•Standard susceptibility test of all tick populations showed low pyrethroid resistance.•GST and esterases are significantly elevated in resistant tick populations.

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus is one of the most important hard ticks parasitizing cattle in northern Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate pyrethroid resistance levels of this species from Nur County, northern Iran. The hard ticks were collected through a multistage cluster randomized sampling method from the study area and fully engorged female R. (B.) annulatus were reared in a controlled insectary until they produced larvae for bioassay. Seventeen populations of the hard ticks were bioassayed with cypermethrin and 12 populations with lambda-cyhalothrin using a modified larval packet test (LPT). Biochemical assays to measure the contents/activity of different enzyme groups including mixed function oxidases (MFOs), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and general esterases were performed. Population 75 showed a resistance ratio of 4.05 with cypermethrin when compared with the most susceptible field population 66 at the LC50 level. With lambda-cyhalothrin the resistance ratio based on LC50 was 3.67 when compared with the susceptible population. The results of biochemical assays demonstrated significantly elevated levels of GSTs and esterases in populations tested compared with the heterozygous susceptible filed population and a correlation coefficient of these enzymes was found in association to lambda-cyhalothrin resistance. Based on the results, pyrethroid acaricides may operationally fail to control R. (B.) annulatus in North of Iran. This study is the first document of pyrethroid resistance in R. (B.) annulatus populations from Iran.

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