Resistance to the organophosphorus insecticide malathion in genetically related strains of the Australian sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina was examined. Separate lines of blowflies were established by homozygosis of the fourth chromosome of the parental RM strain. Both the RM and the derived resistant (der-R) strains are approximately 100 times more resistant to malathion than the related susceptible der-S strain, resistance being correlated with a 45- to 50-fold increase in a malathion carboxylesterase (MCE) activity. MCE has a pH optimum ranging between 6.6 and 8.0 and is strongly inhibited by the carboxylesterase inhibitors triphenyl phosphate, paraoxon, and diisopropylfluorophosphate. Subcellular fractionation revealed that MCE was localized predominantly to the cytosol and mitochondria in both resistant and susceptible blowflies. A single MCE was purified to homogeneity from RM blowflies. It has a pI of 5.5, is a monomer of 60.5 kDa, and hydrolyzes malathion with a Vmax of 755 nmol/min/mg protein and a Km of 11.0 microM. L. cuprina have thus evolved a remarkable MCE which is faster and more efficient at hydrolyzing a specific insecticide than any other insect esterase vet described.