The insect growth regulator, cyromazine, kills developing larvae and pupae by causing cuticular melanisation and lesions and ruptures in the body wall. The mode of action of cyromazine and the genetic and molecular bases of cyromazine-resistance are being investigated in Drosophila melanogaster . Resistance is monogenic in each case. Four resistance genes have been identified. Precise genetic mapping data and toxological analyses will be presented for each mutant.
Analyses using duplication strains suggest the resistance gene product is a target of cyromazine.