Over the last 40 years, the development of pesticide resistance by insect pests, fungal pathogens and weeds has provided one of the most spectacular and best-documented examples of a genetic response to man-made changes in the environment. Nearly 500 species of arthropod are now reported to resist insecticides or acaricides of at least one chemical group, and in numerous cases such resistance renders control difficult or uneconomic over large areas (Voss, 1988). About 100 species of plant pathogen have similarly developed resistance to fungicides, and herbicide resistance, which was originally slower to appear, now extends to more than 90 weed species worldwide (Anon., 1989). Resistance therefore represents a parallel evolutionary phenomenon in several extremely diverse taxonomic groups, and, aside from its economic significance, it provides an ideal model for investigating how organisms can respond to large-scale exposure to xenobiotics (Sawicki & Denholm, 1984). Despite being directed mainly at pest species rather than non-target organisms, research into resistance has very similar objectives to that in mainstream exotoxicology. In both cases it is vital to exploit all the relevant technologies to detect and monitor adverse changes in field populations, to identify factors responsible for these changes and, where appropriate, to formulate effective countermeasures. Research into insecticide resistance at Rothamsted involving molecular biology, biochemistry, toxicology and population biology therefore exemplifies well the multidisciplinary approach needed to document and interpret such effects on pests and non-pests alike. Key-words: Bioassay, biochemical assay, insecticide resistance, Musca domestica, resistance monitoring, review Are any changes occurring?
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I. Denholm (1990) studied this question.